Dentists urge Government to restore State cover for treatments

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.

The warning comes as the Irish Dental Association meets in Killarney over the next four days for its annual conference.

CEO of the group, Fintan Hourihan, said that many of his members are seeing a significant increase in the number of patients needing tooth extractions, as patients are going years without seeing their dentist.

He said that the Government must reverse the cutbacks made to the treatments offered, in order to save money for the State in the long term.

"We've now reached a point where permanent damage will be done to the dental health of the nation unless there's urgent steps taken to gradually restore some of the treatments that were available to medical card and PRSI patients," he said.