Children wait up to three years for dental care

Schoolchildren are being denied vital dentist treatment for as long as three years because of HSE cutbacks and chronic staff shortages, senior politicians have been told.

Speaking at the latest cross-party Oireachtas health committee meeting, officials from the Irish Dental Association warned that children’s health is being put at risk because of ongoing service shortfalls.

According to the representative body, children should be seen for public check ups at least three times during their school-going years.

However, due to under-staffing linked to the ongoing HSE recruitment moratorium and cuts to the dentist sector’s budget, some young teens are being denied the free care for up to three years.

Speaking at the cross-party meeting Irish Dental Association president, Dr Andrew Bolas, said as many as 456 primary school children are being forced to wait three years for check-ups in the HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster region.

In East Cork, more than 1,400 are waiting almost two years — meaning they are not seen until they have started secondary school.

Dr Bolas said the situation is the direct result of a 41% cut to State funding for the public dental system since 2009, at a time when there has been a 17% rise in patients seeking publicly funded treatment.

He said the issue is contributing to poor dental hygiene, which is risking more serious problems for children in their adult years.

“Oral health is of vital importance to general health and overall well-being. Despite this, many in our country experience unnecessary pain and suffering.

“Cuts are having a devastating effect on the oral health of the population,” he said.

Under existing rules, public patients who hold medical cards are entitled to free check-ups from public dentists. However, despite the fact eight out of 10 people fall into this category, Dr Bolas said that less than one in four take up this opportunity.

The Irish Dental Association president said this failure to take advantage of free check-up opportunities is partly due to a lack of awareness from the public on what they are entitled to receive — and due to an inadequate number of dentists working in the public system.

He said creating a voucher system whereby patients would be allowed to access free check-ups from private dentists, who would be paid for by the State, would help to resolve this problem while also reducing waiting list levels.

Cutbacks putting lives at risk

People unknowingly living with mouth cancer are failing to be diagnosed because of HSE dentist cutbacks, it has been claimed.

Speaking at the Oireachtas health committee meeting Irish Dental Association president, Dr Andrew Bolas, said mouth cancer is becoming an increasingly serious problem.

He said more than 300 people are diagnosed with the potentially lethal condition — which is strongly linked to alcohol and smoking habits — every year. However, while the condition can be treated relatively easily if caught early, Dr Bolas warned service cutbacks mean many more patients are not being diagnosed — putting health and lives at risk.

“My belief is incidents of oral [mouth] cancer are increasing, mainly because of smoking and alcohol consumption.

“They are happening in young people and could be caught earlier if dental check-ups were more regular,” he said, adding that if caught early the condition can be entirely resolved by minor surgery.

The Irish Dental Association has set up a public awareness campaign in an attempt to address the situation, called www.mouthcancerawareness.ie.

However, this awareness campaign is not currently supported by the HSE.