Our MDS consulting panel — your questions answered

Our panel currently has more than fifty MDS (Master of Dental Surgery) specialists across nine departments. They work with our two founding dentists, Dr Avinash Bamane and Dr Rashmi Bamane, who see new patients first.

A big number on its own doesn't tell you much, so here is what it means in practice:

• Departments that handle the commonest specialist work, such as root canals and oral surgery, have several consultants, so there is usually more than one calendar to choose from.
• Narrower departments, such as oral medicine and public health dentistry, are much smaller, so those appointments can take longer to arrange.
• You only see the specialist your case needs. Most patients see one specialist, or none at all.

You can browse the departments on our MDS departments page and the individual profiles on our team page. To see a specialist, book a consultation with one of our founding dentists first, or call 8484 990 678 if you have been referred for something specific.

Visiting consultants are the usual model for specialist dentistry in Indian cities. An orthodontist or oral surgeon rarely has enough work at one clinic to sit there six days a week, so most consult at several practices and keep their own calendar.

What that means for you

• Book ahead. Specialists are seen by prior appointment, not on a walk-in basis. Surgeon appointments must be booked at least three days in advance.
• One home base. Your file, X-rays and treatment plan stay with us, so the specialist works from the same records as your regular dentist.
• Continuity. Dr Avinash or Dr Rashmi remains your point of contact between specialist visits, for questions, reviews and routine work.

Some patients worry that "visiting" means less committed. The useful question is not where a specialist spends the rest of the week, but whether they are qualified for your treatment and who answers your call if something goes wrong afterwards. You can ask us both before you agree to anything. See our MDS departments for what each department handles.

"On call" means very different things at different clinics, so it is worth being precise about how we actually work.

What we do and don't offer

• Our Kharadi clinic is open 8 AM to 11 PM, seven days a week. We don't have a phone line or service after 11 PM.
• Our MDS specialists are visiting consultants. They see patients at Kharadi by prior appointment, usually after Dr Avinash or Dr Rashmi Bamane has examined you.
• On our team page, a specialist whose profile shows "By prior appointment" has no availability listed online. It doesn't mean they are unavailable; it means we fix the date with them for you.

If it is urgent

For severe pain, swelling or a broken tooth, call 8484 990 678. Urgent cases are handled at Kharadi until 11 PM, and if a specialist is needed after that first visit, we book one. After hours, go to a hospital emergency department for facial swelling spreading towards the eye or neck, difficulty breathing or swallowing, bleeding that won't stop, or a jaw injury. More on our emergency page.

This is a fair question to ask any clinic that works with visiting consultants. We'd rather be straight with you than give a polished answer we can't back up: we have not published written selection criteria for the panel.

What you can check yourself

• The degree. Ask which MDS speciality the doctor holds, and check it matches your treatment: an endodontist for a difficult root canal, an oral surgeon for an impacted wisdom tooth, a periodontist for advanced gum disease.
• The registration. Every dentist practising in India must be registered with a State Dental Council. Ask us for your specialist's registration number before treatment starts.
• The plan. Ask the specialist to explain the options, the risks and the full cost before you agree. A good specialist welcomes these questions.

How the right specialist reaches you

Dr Avinash or Dr Rashmi Bamane sees you first and decides which department your case needs. You can read about each department on our MDS departments page, and more questions like this one are answered on our MDS panel questions page.

Patients ask for a specific specialist for good reasons: a relative was treated by them, they have seen them before, or they simply felt comfortable at the consultation. We are happy to work around that.

How to ask

• Online: in the booking engine, choose "Specialist panel", filter by department and select the doctor.
• After your first consultation: when Dr Avinash or Dr Rashmi Bamane refers you, tell them who you would prefer.
• By phone: call 8484 990 678.

Things to keep in mind

• The specialist you ask for should match the problem. If you ask for an orthodontist about a gum problem, your dentist will explain why a periodontist is the better fit.
• If the doctor is booked up and your problem is getting worse, waiting may not be wise. We will tell you honestly if that is the case.
• Specialist consultations are by prior appointment at our Kharadi clinic.

There is no single answer, because each specialist is a visiting consultant with their own calendar. What we can tell you is what affects the wait.

• The department. Large departments, such as root canal treatment and oral surgery, have several specialists, so a slot is usually easier to find. Small ones, such as oral medicine, can take longer.
• The type of visit. A consultation is quicker to arrange than surgery. Surgeon appointments need booking at least three days ahead, and the surgical slot is reserved with a ₹2,000 advance.
• Your flexibility. If you can come at a time that suits the specialist, or are happy to see any specialist in the department, it is usually sooner.

The quickest route for most people is a consultation with Dr Avinash or Dr Rashmi Bamane through our booking engine. If you already know which department you need, the booking engine shows live specialist slots too.

For severe pain, swelling or an injury, don't wait. Call 8484 990 678; our Kharadi clinic is open until 11 PM. See our emergency page.

We have five clinics in east Pune: Kharadi, Viman Nagar, Wagholi, Hadapsar and Wadgaon Sheri, all within about 6 km of one another. For an MDS specialist consultation, plan on coming to Kharadi.

Why Kharadi

• It is our HQ and largest clinic, with a dedicated operatory for surgery and implants.
• It has the longest hours, 8 AM to 11 PM, seven days a week, which makes it easier to fit a specialist slot around office hours in the IT parks.
• It is on Eon Free Zone Road next to World Trade Center, with free basement parking. Directions are on our Kharadi page.

If you usually visit another branch

Our two founding dentists work across all five clinics, so routine visits can often continue at the branch you know. Call 8484 990 678 to confirm timings and directions for the other branches, and to ask whether a specialist visit can be arranged nearer to you in your particular case. Contact details for every branch are on our contact page.

Kharadi is where our specialist consultations happen. Here is who to expect, in plain terms:

• Endodontists: difficult root canals and re-treatment of old ones.
• Oral and maxillofacial surgeons: wisdom teeth, surgical extractions, bone grafts and implant surgery.
• Periodontists: gum disease and gum surgery.
• Orthodontists: braces and aligners.
• Pedodontists: children, especially those under ten.
• Prosthodontists: crowns, bridges, dentures and implant crowns.
• Oral radiologists: interpreting X-rays and CBCT scans.
• Oral medicine: ulcers, white or red patches, lumps and biopsies.
• Public health dentistry: prevention.

Specialists aren't at the clinic every day, so the MDS consultation (₹1,500) is always booked in advance, usually after a first consultation with our founding dentists. Read about each department on our MDS departments page.

The honest answer has two parts. What we can say for every panel doctor is their qualification: each one is an MDS (Master of Dental Surgery), which means a five-year BDS degree, then three more years of full-time specialist training in a single field such as root canals, gums, braces or surgery. What we don't publish is a years-of-experience figure for each specialist, and we would rather tell you that plainly than print a number we can't stand behind.

How the panel is organised

We work with more than fifty MDS specialists across nine departments. They are visiting consultants who see patients at Kharadi by prior appointment. Dr Avinash or Dr Rashmi Bamane sees you first, examines you and then brings in the specialist whose field fits your problem. The founders' own experience is published: Dr Avinash has 18 years and Dr Rashmi 16 years, counted from completing BDS and internship.

Questions worth asking before treatment

• Which department will handle my case, and why that one?
• How often does this specialist do this particular procedure?
• What is their State Dental Council registration number?

You are welcome to ask any of these at your consultation. You can browse the departments on our MDS departments page or the team page.

The two dentists who founded and run the clinic, Dr Avinash Bamane and Dr Rashmi Bamane, both took their BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery, the basic five-year dental degree including internship) at Mahatma Gandhi Vidya Mandir's in Nashik. Dr Avinash graduated in 2008 and Dr Rashmi in 2010. Both are members of the Indian Dental Association.

The MDS specialists

Our visiting specialists each hold an MDS, the three-year postgraduate degree that comes after BDS, in their own field. They studied at different institutions, and we don't publish a college list for the panel in these answers. If where your specialist trained matters to you, ask us at your consultation; it is a fair question and we will answer it.

What matters more than the college name

A college tells you where someone started. For your own treatment, it is usually more useful to know whether the dentist holds the right specialist degree for your problem, is registered with a State Dental Council, and does your kind of procedure regularly. See Dr Avinash Bamane's page or our team page for more about who treats you.

We do, and we think every clinic should. The founders' numbers appear across our website:

• Dr Avinash Bamane, BDS: Maharashtra State Dental Council registration A-18814
• Dr Rashmi Bamane, BDS: registration A-22726

A registration number is how you check, on the official State Dental Council register, that the person treating you is entitled to practise. Every dentist working in India must hold one.

For panel specialists

Our MDS specialists are visiting consultants, and we don't list each one's number in these answers. That isn't meant to keep anything from you: simply ask, and we will give you the registration number of the specialist assigned to your case before any treatment begins. You can see which departments exist on our MDS departments page, and our page on why we left listing platforms explains why we prefer to give patients this kind of information directly.

They do. This is not a clinic where the founders' names are on the board and someone else does all the work.

• Dr Avinash Bamane (18 years' experience) treats patients four days a week. The rest of his week goes into building the practice software that runs our appointments, records and payments.
• Dr Rashmi Bamane (16 years' experience) is the senior dentist and co-owner, and also handles much of the clinic's administration alongside her patients.

Where they fit in your treatment

When you come in as a new patient, Dr Avinash or Dr Rashmi sees you first. They examine you, explain what they find and, where a case needs a particular speciality, bring in the right MDS specialist rather than attempting everything themselves. Difficult cases go to specialists, not to whoever happens to be free. We do not staff interns, so nobody in training is treating patients.

You can read more about how a first visit runs on our first appointment guide, or about Dr Avinash on his own page.

Dr Avinash Bamane is the founder and chief dentist, and he sees many new patients first. His published areas of clinical focus are:

• Dental implants and full-mouth rehabilitation (rebuilding the bite when many teeth are damaged or missing)
• Endodontics, meaning root canal treatment
• Cosmetic work, including laminates and veneers (thin facings bonded to the front of teeth)
• Conservative dentistry such as tooth-coloured fillings
• Impacted wisdom tooth removal
• Clear braces, and scaling and polishing

Why that list is not a promise of who does your case

A focus area is where a dentist has the most interest and experience. It does not mean every case in that area stays with him. He sees patients four days a week and has said he would rather arrange the right specialist than attempt all of it himself. A straightforward root canal may stay with him; a heavily curved or previously treated canal may go to an MDS endodontist. A simple implant may be his; one needing a bone graft may involve a surgeon or prosthodontist.

If you specifically want Dr Avinash, you can choose him in our booking engine, and ask at the consultation exactly which stages he will do himself. More about him is on his page.

Dr Rashmi Bamane has 16 years of clinical experience and is co-owner of the clinic as well as its senior dentist. Her published focus areas are:

• Cosmetic and aesthetic dentistry: improving the look of front teeth, shade matching and smile work
• Conservative dentistry: saving tooth structure with tooth-coloured fillings and similar repairs
• Crowns and bridges: caps over damaged teeth, and fixed replacements for missing ones
• Care for children

A note on children

We see patients from age 10 in routine clinics. For children between 1 and 10, our recommendation is one of our MDS paediatric dentists, who are trained specifically in treating young children and milk teeth. See the paediatric dentistry department for more.

Who does what in your case

Like Dr Avinash, Dr Rashmi often sees patients first and brings in an MDS specialist where a case needs one. A focus area is not a guarantee that she personally completes every stage. If you want her specifically, choose her in our booking engine and ask at your consultation which parts she will do herself.

It depends what you mean by "freelance", so here is exactly how it works.

Our two founders, Dr Avinash and Dr Rashmi Bamane, own and run the clinic and treat patients themselves. Alongside them we have a panel of more than fifty MDS specialists across nine departments. These specialists are visiting consultants: they are not tied to one address, and they see patients by prior appointment, mainly at our Kharadi clinic.

What that does and doesn't mean

• The panel is a defined list of specialists, organised by department, not a pool of whoever is available on the day.
• One of the founders sees you first and decides which specialist your case needs.
• Every case is recorded in the same clinic file, whoever treats you.
• We do not staff interns, and we do not run franchises.

The trade-off is honest: a visiting specialist is not in the clinic every day, so specialist appointments need booking ahead. In return, you see someone who works in that one field. If you want to know who will treat you, or their registration number, ask us before treatment. The MDS departments page and the team page show how the panel is organised.

A handover is only as good as the record behind it. Ours runs through a single clinic file, kept in the clinic's own records system.

1. First examination. Dr Avinash or Dr Rashmi Bamane sees you, takes any X-rays needed and records the findings and the proposed plan.
2. Referral. Where a stage needs a specialist, they bring in the right MDS department. The specialist sees you by prior appointment at Kharadi and works from your file, not from scratch.
3. Shared stages. Where a case has several stages, different parts may be done by different dentists. Notes, prescriptions, X-rays and lab work (tooth numbers, shade and expected delivery date) are all recorded in the same file.
4. Your copy. You can see your clinical notes, X-rays, lab work and plans on the patient portal.

One practical tip: if you have visited before, book through the portal rather than as a new patient, so the visit joins your existing file. If anything in a handover feels unclear, for example a specialist suggests something different from your first plan, ask for it to be explained before you go ahead. The MDS departments page shows which specialities we work with.

Yes, you can say so, and you should. Trust and comfort are part of good treatment, especially if you are anxious or the treatment is long.

How to go about it

• Tell us directly. Speak to reception, or to Dr Avinash or Dr Rashmi Bamane, who see patients first and arrange specialists. Call 8484 990 678 if you'd rather not raise it in the clinic.
• Choose when you book. In our booking engine you can pick one of the founders, or the specialist panel filtered by department.
• Say what the problem is, if you are willing. Sometimes it is a communication issue that can be sorted out; sometimes it is simply a matter of fit, and that is fine too.

If you are partway through treatment

Changing dentist between treatments is simple. Changing in the middle of a stage, such as halfway through a root canal or during a course of braces, can be done, but the new dentist needs to review the work so far and agree with the plan. That may take an extra visit, and appointment availability depends on the specialist. Ask us how a change would affect your timing and cost before deciding.

Your records stay in the same file whoever treats you, and you can see them on the patient portal.