1,500 teens wait up to 3 years for dental care

More than 1,500 Cork and Kerry teens are being forced to wait up to three years for vital public dentist appointments — a situation the HSE claims is a success story.

New figures revealed at the latest regional health forum show that, at the start of this year, a massive 1,511 children and teenagers were on waiting lists for the specialist care in the region.

While a full breakdown is not available, senior HSE officials said that in general “priority patients” are seen within one year while others are told to wait as long as three years.