Coorg Institute of Dental Sciences, Virajpet has a full fledged Public Health Dentistry Department, the key tasks of which are to provide quality dental care, to spread oral health awareness and to motivate the general public to adopt oral hygiene measures.

To achieve this end, the Department of Public Health Dentistry runs and maintains satellite clinics in and around Coorg. Three nodal centers, one each at Siddapur, Virajpet town and Kushalnagar are the treatment venues. In theses clinics, the underprivileged section of the society is majorly targeted. The clinics have all the facilities and provide fringeless dental treatment for a nominal fee.

The Siddapur clinic was founded in December 2004. The excellent patient generation (approx. 300 per year) coupled with satisfactory services provided the impetus to establish two more clinics. Thus Virajpet town clinic was adopted in January 2005 and established Kushalnagar clinic in January 2006. These too yielded excellent results in terms of patient output and continue to do so. Virajpet town clinic and Kushalnagar clinics have witnessed around 7700 and 13000 patients inception The nodal centres are overseen by efficient and committed faculty members of the department. Undergraduate and postgraduate students are also posted and this expands their clinical opportunities and productivity.

Free Health Camps

Treatment and Screening camps comprise the main agenda in the activities of our department. Free health camps are conducted in association with schools, IDA, NGO's, voluntary service organizations and local clubs, most of them at rural areas in Coorg and neighboring districts and parts of Kerala state. The camps offer preventive and restorative treatment procedures and provide a forum for carrying out dental health education programs. We make the best use of audiovisual media to educate and motivate the masses through .these camps. We have at least 45-60 camps to our credit covering 15000 patients per year.

The institution is responsible for caring for dental needs of regular as well as special children. The department has adopted Coorg Public School, Gonikoppal along with three other special schools, Cheshire homes, Polibetta; Opportunity School, Kodagu Vidyalaya, Madikeri and Centre for Special Education and Rehabilitation, 'Swastha', Suntikuppa where dental treatment services are rendered with the help of a fully equipped mobile dental unit during monthly visits.

Our faculty members are posted in Government Hospitals at Madikeri and Somwarpet to acquaint with their activities and to provide dental health care delivery.

Tibetan Refugee Settlements

Our faculty has extended their services to a Tibetan Refugee Settlements at all three of their hospitals (Sermey, Serajhe and Tso-Jhe-Khangsar) at Bayalkuppe which also provides an excellent opportunity to our postgraduate students to study the culturally diverse population.

HIV

Recently, we have also started an outreach centre at 'Ashakirana', Mysore exclusively for HIV patients as a charity program. This again provides a wider range of clinical exposure and training to our postgraduate students.

We are also in association with the ‘Charity Advisory Trust’ based in the United Kingdom, which has a program that raises money to give free dental treatment to Tribals in and around Coorg.

In conclusion , The Coorg Institute of Dental Sciences aims at working closely with the community by imparting quality at the same time low-cost dentistry.