Dental care ‘7 years too late’

Parents are bringing their children for their first trip to the dentist seven years too late, an international conference has heard.

Dr John Walsh, dean of the faculty of dentistry at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, said the average age of an Irish child’s first visit to the dentist is eight.

Ideally, he told the RCSI faculty of dentistry annual scientific meeting, a child’s introductory trip to the dentist should take place before their first birthday.