Dentists have claimed ‘shocking’ new figures which reveal 84,000 children and teenagers from all over the country are awaiting dental assessment or treatment, underestimate the scale of the problem and have called for the appointment of 100 new dentists over next two years

The Irish Dental Association (IDA) says dental amalgam contains several metals including mercury.

New CSO statistics revealed today show that the number of HSE funded treatments under the Dental Treatment Service Scheme have fallen by over 16% between 2013 and 2016.

“The HSE has effectively overseen the introduction of dental apartheid for the 37% of the population who have a medical card,” said Fintan Hourihan, chief executive of the Irish Dental Association.

Dentists want to play a key role in signalling serious medical conditions in patients.

Up to 10,000 children under the age of 15 are ending up in hospital every year to have teeth removed in what dentists claim is a direct result of cuts to free dental care.