Dental students of Bangalore University can now face the prospect of failure with a broad display of teeth. University authorities reportedly granted grace marks to several Bachelor of Dental Sciences students to enable them to pass the 1992 annual and 1993 supplementary examinations. University sources say more than 150 students have benefited.

However, university officials have seized the examination records of the students and decided not to award degrees to candidates suspected of having benefited, pending an inquiry.

This comes close on the heels of a scandal that rocked the university in September 1993, when 158 medical students were granted grace marks to help them pass the 1992 examination. Granting of grace marks was reportedly made possible in December 1992, when the erstwhile registrar (evaluation) flouted norms and passed an order on new rules for awarding grace marks.