‘Dr Wix Cupidon was not the only Seychellois maxillo facial surgeon at Seychelles Hospital’ |17 July 2015

Contrary to what has been recently reported in the local press, Dr Wix Cupidon was not the only Seychellois maxillo facial surgeon working at the Seychelles Hospital before his recent resignation from the Ministry of Health.

The ministry has in fact revealed that another such Seychellois specialist, Dr Velmurugan Chetty, has been exercising the same function and at the same place since his specialisation in 2009.

Before specialising as a maxillo facial surgeon, Dr Chetty had been employed as a dentist with the Ministry of Health since 2002.

He is still working at the dental clinic in the Yellow Roof building, alongside two other specialists from Cuba. Seychelles NATION caught up with him there yesterday afternoon.

Dr Chetty, who revealed that his father was a well known Victoria merchant, is even proud to remind that he was a recipient of a Seychelles’ government scholarship which permitted him to follow his specialisation in India.

He added that he has also followed numerous courses in the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain. He is equally a registered member of the International Association of Oral and Maxillo Facial Surgeons (IAOMS) and an elected member of the Seychelles Medical and Dental Council.

Dr Chetty further commented that “while Dr Cupidon was a competent maxillo facial surgeon, nevertheless he was not the only Seychellois specialist in that important field”.

“I’m also a Seychellois oral and maxillo facial surgeon, with an internationally recognised qualification. It is important to get the facts right,” he stated.

Dr Chetty, who believes that the Seychelles Hospital is sufficiently staffed to cater for current demand in dental treatment, took time to explain the technicalities of his profession. He described oral and maxillo facial surgery as a bridge between the dental and medical faculties.

“It is a specialty which combines dental, medical and surgical knowledge and skills. It concentrates on the diagnosis and surgical management of trauma, pathologies and developmental conditions of the head and neck regions as well as oral cancers,” he explained.

He gave examples of major surgeries as healing defects, injuries and deformities to the facial bones as well as jaw corrections. Minor ones include wisdom tooth extraction, tongue tie, curing infection of the face and jaw bones and what is called dento-alveolar surgery, which is the surgical treatment of the teeth and their supporting tissues.