HSE to tackle three-year waiting times for special needs children undergoing dental procedures

Children with special needs are still waiting up to three years for dental procedures to be carried out, according to the HSE’s top expert on oral health.

Dympna Kavanagh also revealed that preliminary data from a review of child oral health in Dublin, Cork, and Kerry indicated very low levels of decay, although completed results will not be published until later this year.

On waiting lists for children with special needs, she said these mostly related to referrals where the child had to undergo general anaesthetic — and that more training was being provided for nurses and dentists to reduce the number of such cases.

Referring to waiting times of up to three years for some children for procedures such as extractions, Dr Kavanagh said: “That is an area of concern for me.”

She said behavioural management training was now being provided for dentists and nurses to lower the number of procedures where general anaesthetic are thought essential. At present, children with special needs on a waiting list for such dental procedures have to take antibiotics and painkillers to deal with any pain.

Dr Kavanagh also said modern sedation was now being used to help with some cases.

“We also want to change dentists’ attitudes by which the first port of call is not to [the children] on a list [for a general procedure],” she said.

It is one of a number of issues being addressed, along with the possibility of public health nurses or hygienists being able to carry out dental checks and reviewing whether oral health levels dip after school-based inspections end at sixth class.

“At the moment we are undergoing a national policy review in relation to dentistry — we haven’t had one since 1994,” said Dr Kavanagh.

As part of that process, the oral health levels of children aged 5 and 12 in schools in Dublin, Cork, and Kerry are being noted, taking in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas.

It is hoped that the review will indicate whether or not the decision to lower the level of fluoride in the water supply in 2007 was justified on oral health grounds and Dr Kavanagh said: “We want to know that we did the right thing.”

The same children will be reviewed again in four years. The results of the current review will be completed in autumn, but Dr Kavanagh said early indications were that there was very little tooth decay in children aged five.