Stephen Donnelly promises 'root and branch' review of medical card dental scheme 

There was criticism of the redeployment of public sector dentists to the vaccination rollout, with the outgoing president of the Irish Dental Association saying their absence meant a lack of early diagnosis.

A “root and branch” review of the medical card scheme for dental treatment was promised by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly on Saturday.

Speaking at the Irish Dental Association annual general meeting, he said a review of the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) was delayed by the pandemic.

“I am particularly concerned about the reduction of the number of dentists participating since the start of the pandemic, and I am acutely aware this has led to problems in some areas accessing services,” Mr Donnelly said.

The scheme allows patients to access public dental treatment but Mr Donnelly said the scheme needs to be modernised.

“I am committed to a root and branch review of the scheme as it simply has not kept pace with today’s preventative approach to dental intervention," he said.

"Addressing the immediate issues with the DTSS needs to happen quickly, and I’ve instructed officials to begin an immediate dialogue [with dentists].” 

Mr Donnelly also praised dentists for their contribution to the pandemic effort, saying they were involved with test and trace, swabbing and now vaccinations.

I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all members of the dental profession for your continued hard work in providing dental care to the community in the current challenging environment. 

"In particular thanks to those who stepped outside their normal role to deal with the Covid-19 emergency,” he said.

However, the Irish Dental Association (IDA) warned medical card patients are missing out on dental care.

Fewer than 800 dentists were treating medical card patients last month, according to the IDA from an available total of 2,500. 

Funding cuts compounded by the redeployment of public sector dentists to the vaccination rollout have left fewer practices available, they said.

Dr Anne O’Neill, outgoing president of the IDA, said dentists have “lost faith in the ability of the Department of Health to listen to the dental profession and bring about real and substantive change for the good of patients”.

“What we need to see now is action because, up to this point, dentists have lost faith in the ability of the Department of Health to listen to the dental profession and bring about real and substantive change for the good of patients. We must ensure that it is the patient that is prioritised,” Dr O'Neill said. 

The scheme is “widening the gap” between people who can pay for private care and those who cannot.

She was critical of the ongoing redeployment of public sector dentists to the vaccination rollout.

“These dentists are willing and able to meet the challenge of being vaccinators, but it is important to state that their absence means a lack of early intervention, a lack of early diagnosis and treatment of dental diseases to both children and vulnerable adults, some of which will result in the loss of teeth for life,” Dr O'Neill said.

She warned this is impacting most heavily on children and young adults; she pointed to the rising numbers of tooth extractions being done on the scheme, which she said, is a failure to give families early access to treatment.