A free dental scheme that limits the number of fillings a patient can have, but not the number of teeth that can be removed, is driving up the rate of surgical extractions, dentists have claimed.

More than 2.5m PRSI contributors are now entitled to a range of subsidised dental treatments and optical services.

It is being claimed the Public Dental Service for primary school children is on the verge of collapse.

Thousands of children are waiting as long as 12 years for their first dental screening, it has emerged.

Do-it-yourself dentistry is on the rise, and so are the complaints from dissatisfied people who bought braces, veneers, and tooth-whitening kits online.

The Irish Dental Association (IDA) has written to the Taoiseach urging a cross-departmental response “to the oral health crisis” at a time when upwards of 10,000 children are waiting more than a year for orthodontic treatment.

Dispute over contracts could scupper plan to restore benefits and expand them to self-employed.

Some 16,000 children missed their school dental screening last year, because of staff shortages and public clinic closures.

“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.

The Irish Dental Association has moved to assure the public that dentists are disposing of mercury safely although it says it doesn’t have statistics on compliance rates.

A new dental health report is recommending free dentist visits for the under 6's.

The sudden closure of a HSE-run dental clinic that treated thousands of children needing multiple extractions has exposed them to greater risk, says the Irish Dental Association.

The HSE has been forced to remove from its website details of state payments to thousands of primary care health professionals.

The days of fretting about going to the dentist may be over.

The Irish Dental Association says medical card patients are being forced to use antibiotics for prolonged periods due to long delays in arranging oral surgery.

Dentists are today warning that the removal of State cover for many dental treatments is leading to many patients leaving tooth decay and gum disease untreated.

A quarter of dentists plan to cut staff this year while a fifth want to sell their practice, a new survey has found.

The Irish Dental Union (IDU) has today accused the HSE of not communicating to medical card patients what their entitlements are.

Dentists are calling on the Government to reverse cuts to the HSE's dental budget after it emerged a 16-year-old girl will need dentures as she is not entitled to any more fillings under her medical card.

DENTAL services have become a “postcode lottery” in Ireland according to the head of the Irish Dental Union (IDU).

I WAS interested in your report on the proposed dental factory in Ballylanders, and the reply from Mr Fintan Hourihan of the Irish Dental Association.

DENTISTS have warned of an irreversible decline in the nation’s oral health as new figures reveal there were 700,000 fewer treatments carried out under the state’s dental scheme since the cuts were introduced in January, a drop of almost 60%.

RESTRICTIONS on dental cover for medical card patients are causing chaos, confusion and hardship, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

Two dentists have secured High Court injunctions preventing the HSE from implementing changes to the scheme which allows medical card holders avail of dental treatments free of charge pending a full determination of the dispute.

DENTISTS have condemned the Health Service Executive’s decision to reduce the medical card scheme to one that only provides limited emergency cover.

DENTISTS have warned that proposed Government cutbacks for treatment of medical card holders will set back dental services by decades, with almost half a million less procedures being carried out this year.

Medical card holders seeking dental treatment are being warned that they may now be offered tooth extractions and antibiotics instead of fillings.

MORE than 400 dentists from across the country attended a crisis meeting in Dublin yesterday to condemn cuts of more than €110m to dental treatment supports.

THE cost of visiting the dentist is set to plunge as the country’s largest dental group slashed prices by 30%.

PATIENTS are facing the prospect of an elitist dental care system as a direct result of the budget, with thousands seeking the cheapest and most common treatments facing huge cost rises.

TEACHERS at Cork University Dental School and Hospital have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action if the college proceeds with its plan to introduce work practices changes on Monday to deal with a funding shortfall.

TEACHERS at Cork University Dental School and Hospital have threatened to take industrial action if the college proceeds with its plan to introduce work practice changes from next month to deal with a funding shortfall.

DENTURES will be rationed for medical card holders as part of a wave of Health Service Executive (HSE) cutbacks, dentists representatives warned.

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney has been accused of losing sight of difficulties facing patients amid claims medical card holders are experiencing frustrating delays for dental treatment.

HOSPITAL consultants are likely to reject latest management proposals aimed at securing a contract when they meet today.

A DOCTOR in north Cork said he cannot guarantee the safety of his patients because of a lack of investment in Mallow General Hospital.

HOSPITAL consultants have warned that the June deadline set for finalising a consultants’ contract may be missed because crucial issues remain unresolved.

The HSE failed the terms of Towards 2016 national agreement by failing to consult employees prior to the implementation of recruitment cutbacks, the Labour Court has ruled today.

A SECOND round of renewed efforts between medics and health bosses to reach an agreement on new consultants’ contracts was under way last night.

The Director of Industrial Relations with the Irish Medical Organisation Fintan Hourihan has said that the Health Service Executive knew a possible deficit in its annual budget since April, but only informed the IMO in early September

ANY chance of a quick resolution to contract negotiations with hospital consultants were dashed yesterday after their representative associations have rejected the latest pay offer.

HEALTH specialists have welcomed the appointment of 60 new consultant posts to hospitals that are making progress in tackling the A&E crisis.

HOSPITAL consultants have largely heeded their unions’ warnings not to apply for the new posts advertised under an imposed work contract, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has claimed.