20% drop in HSE general dentists but the under 16 population has increased by 20%. In some parts of the country the number of extractions for children is on a par with fillings. Huge gaps in school screenings – almost 16,000 children in 6 community health areas missed school screenings last year Children as young as 2 having teeth extracted under general anaesthetic.

Former boxer says a visit to his dentist led to shock discovery of mouth cancer. Two people die every week in Ireland from the ‘silent killer’. Free mouth cancer examinations available in up to 300 dental surgeries nationwide on MCAD – Wednesday 21st of September.

The Committee on the Future of Healthcare has been established to achieve cross-party consensus on a single long-term vision for health care and the direction of health policy in Ireland, and to make recommendations to the Dáil in that regard. The IDA submission to the Committee outlines 8 priorities for the future of the Health Service.

Important Branch meetings to establish the IDA agenda on State supported Dental Schemes. All dentists in Private Practice are urged to attend.

Provide free Mouth Examinations on the 21 September 2016

Dentists call for reinstatement of Med 2 Tax Relief Scheme for private patients. Cut-backs under the scheme added €30m to costs of dental treatment.

The 2015 annual report of the Dental Complaints Resolution Service has now been published. The report shows another successful year for the service which was established in 2012 to help resolve differences between dentists and patients.

IDA has negotiated a new deal with AIB Merchant Card Services including use of the new Clover terminal provided by AIB.

Dentists say Medical Card Scheme is unfit for purpose. New report shows that while the number of eligible patients is up 17%, the number of treatments is down 20%. 9 out of 10 dentists have had to prescribe multiple antibiotics for patients on oral surgery waiting lists. ‘The HSE has effectively overseen the introduction of dental apartheid for the 37% of the population who have a medical card’. IDA calls on new Government to examine merger of medical card and PRSI schemes into one universal patient focused scheme.

IDA says if tax is introduced, proceeds should go to oral healthcare programmes. Association says greater focus on education and labelling would pay health dividend.