The provision of dental services for Irish children and special needs patients has been likened to a postcode lottery, with the standard of care and services across the country varying greatly depending on where one lives.
A seminar for dentists was told how HSE cutbacks had led to huge delays in school screenings and for orthodontic treatment in some counties while some vital services had been suspended altogether in other places
The shock findings included the following:
- Children under 16 are now waiting up to five years for orthodontic treatment in north Dublin
- School children in Cavan are not seeing their dentist for their initial school screening check-up until sixth class
- Children in Sligo are waiting for six months before receiving dental treatments which require the provision of general anaesthesia
- All high-risk adult special needs patients in the greater Dublin area have had the provision of general anaesthesia suspended until next January.
- Adult special needs patients in Cork are on a waiting list of three years before they can receive treatments requiring the provision of general anaesthesia.
Since 2000, all children under 16 are entitled to receive dental health screening and preventive treatments as well as treatments for defects identified during screening exams.
The Chief Executive of the Irish Dental Union, Fintan Hourihan described the severe curtailment of services to children and adult special needs patients as inexcusable.
These are just a selection of the many ways in which children up to 16 and special needs patients are being denied essential preventive dental care. Regrettably, all the evidence shows that failure to screen dental problems and arrange treatments at an early stage will inevitably cause significant deterioration in the dental health of such patients Hourihan said.
Hourihan told delegates attending the Irish Dental Union's annual seminar for HSE dentists in Athlone that the denial of services is directly attributable to the ban on appointments in the HSE.
These two vulnerable groups are losing out due to the refusal to replace dentists, dental nurses and other key support staff.
Also dental staff are now being asked to care for adult medical card holders who are being denied dental treatments due to swingeing cutbacks in the medical card scheme which is really only managing to offer limited emergency care at present? he said.
Hourihan said the Irish Dental Union, which is the representative body for the entire dental profession, was calling on the HSE to carry out a comprehensive audit of the dental services currently available to children and special needs patients.
The examples highlighted above are just that. We need an audit of services for children and special needs patients to be carried out immediately. But once its done we want an action plan to be drawn up to address the critical shortfalls in this system. Denying our children and special needs patients proper dental care is a shocking indictment of our healthcare system Hourihan concluded.
ENDS.
Note to Editor - Irish Dental Union/Irish Dental Association
Recently a trade union has been established for members of the Irish Dental Association. The newly registered trade union will be known as the Irish Dental Union. In simple terms, the representative duties will from hereon be provided for dentists by the Irish Dental Union while all other existing education and information services will continue to be provided by the Irish Dental Association.