• There has been a 31% reduction in schoolchildren seen by public-only HSE dentists in the past five years;
• Despite 208,233 children being eligible for the scheme in 2023 only 104,488 were assessed by a public dentist;
• 75 extra whole-time-equivalent (WTE) dentists needed by HSE to bring us back to 2009;
• Workforce population of public dentists declined by 23% between 2006 and 2022;
• Fintan Hourihan, CEO of the Irish Dental Association said, “The HSE has failed to deliver in its’ duty to provide adequate care to patients under the Health Act. Over 50% of schoolchildren have been denied access to dental care under this scheme, which is an increase of 31% of lost appointments since 2019.” 

Fintan Hourihan, CEO of the Irish Dental Association said, “The HSE has failed to deliver in its’ duty to provide adequate care to patients under the Health Act. Over 50% of schoolchildren have been denied access to dental care under this scheme, which is an increase of 31% of lost appointments since 2019.” 

The Irish Dental Association says that public dental services need immediate additional resources as new figures show that over 100,000 children were denied a school dental screening appointment last year. Since 1994, Government policy has suggested that primary school children be seen by a dentist in 2nd, 4th and 6th class.

However, despite 208,233 children being eligible for the scheme in 2023 only 104,488 were assessed by a public dentist, a portion of whom were seen for the first time in secondary school. This is solely down to a shortage of public dentists which is creating a growing backlog in the numbers of children awaiting their first appointment with some children not being seen until secondary school if at all.

These latest figures illustrate clearly how the crisis is worsening with the number of children being screened annually, decreasing significantly in the past 5 years. Over 151,392 schoolchildren were assessed in 2019 under the HSE school screening dental service compared with only 104,488 in 2023. This represents a 31% reduction in schoolchildren screened despite a 7.3% increase in population. This comes as the number of dentists working within the public service   has dropped by 24% since 2006, from 330 to 251 whole-time-equivalents (WTEs) in 2023.

The Irish Dental Association say that Government continues to have a blind spot when it comes to oral health services. This is indicative through the numbers hired into HSE dental services over the past number of years compared to the wider health service. A department of health report shows that the workforce population of public dentists declined by 23% between 2006 and 2022 compared with a 52% increase in non-consultant hospital doctors, a 43.5% increase in consultants, a 37.2% increase in HSE admin staff and a 20% increase in nursing staff between 2012 and 2022.

Dentists are gathering in Killarney, County Kerry this weekend for their annual conference where this, among other issues, will be discussed.

CEO of the Irish Dental Association, Fintan Hourihan, says:

“The HSE has failed to deliver in its’ duty to provide adequate care to patients under the Health Act. Over 50% of schoolchildren have been denied access to dental care under this scheme, which is an increase of 31% of lost appointments since 2019.

“It is imperative that the government invest in the public dental service to ensure the viability of the school dental screening scheme and the sustainability of the public dental service.  There is huge uncertainty over the service as the Government appears to be suggesting that children should be seen by private dentists, 90% of whom say the priority should in fact be on rebuilding the public dental service. This political uncertainty is making it more difficult to recruit into the public dental service. A clear statement is now needed from the Minister for Health to end this uncertainty along with a pledge to increase HSE recruitment of dentists as a priority.

“The government is failing patients and public dentists through inaction. Dentists play a vital role in our communities as caregivers, ensuring dental care is provided to our most vulnerable patients.”  The school screening service is essential to preventive dental care for children and all those missed appointments mean huge numbers of children will suffer irreparable harm to their oral health.