Children’s teeth ‘damaged by end of training scheme’

HUNDREDS of children had their teeth permanently damaged when regional training programmes for orthodontists were abruptly halted six years ago, according to one of the country’s leading practitioners.

Thousands more were also adversely affected and many of the children could have grounds for legal action, said Ted McNamara who spearheaded the training of dental specialists in the Mid-West.

“Some children have been very badly damaged. The plug was pulled in the middle of treatment and many of them had nobody looking after them for months as a result,” he said.

An Oireachtas committee has found that the scheme was pulled because it was threatening the incomes of private practitioners.

In 1999, the Dental Council withdrew approval for the services although they had been operating successfully for 14 years.

“Some children with orthodontic appliances were not seen for 15 months when they should have been seen about every four weeks,” said Mr McNamara. “Quite a number of them now need implants or dentures. Thousands had their treatment interrupted but hundreds have been permanently damaged.”

Mr McNamara said yesterday he felt vindicated by an Oireachtas report which recommends a return to regional training services.

The Irish Committee for Specialist Training in Dentistry (ICSTD) broadly welcomed yesterday’s report.

The ICSTD said that as the principal regulator of specialist orthodontic training, it had been concerned at the withdrawal of public funding of trainees.