Parts of Ireland have 10-year backlog in child dental treatments

The Irish Dental Association (IDA) says dentists are reporting treating older children for extractions or root canals as they missed out on vital early intervention.

Thousands of children are missing out on vital dental care due to a backlog of almost 10 years in parts of the country to access the HSE school dental screening service.

That’s the warning from the Irish Dental Association (IDA) which says dentists are reporting treating older children for extractions or root canals as they missed out on vital early intervention. The HSE school dental screening service is staffed by public-only dentists.

However, the number of practicing public-only dentists has dropped by almost one quarter in the past 15 years, decreasing from 330 in 2006 to 254 in 2022, according to the IDA.

According to the IDA, due to the strain on the system, some primary school children who should be having dental check-ups in second, fourth, and sixth classes aren’t receiving the first of these appointments until they are in fourth year of secondary school.

This means that some children do not receive an initial check-up until they are 16 years of age, resulting in more drastic treatment or, in the worst cases, required extractions.

Some dentists are reporting seeing older children who are requiring three or four extractions and root canal treatment, according to Irish Dental Association chief executive Fintan Hourihan. “This cannot be allowed to continue.”

“We are urging the Government to address this as a critical priority to ensure children are receiving the care they are entitled to under our public dental system and at the earliest opportunity to save them from unnecessary and drastic treatments later.” 

The IDA estimates that the HSE needs to hire 76 dentists in order to restore the service to the level it was at 15 years ago.

Dentists have told the IDA they are being forced to choose which children they believe are suffering the most pain and treat them ahead of patients who may have already been waiting months or years due to two-year waiting lists for treatments requiring general anesthetic.

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This, according to the IDA, is leading to high levels of stress and burnout among dentists hired by the HSE.

The lack of HSE dentists is also impacting on the delivery of care to other vulnerable sections of society including those with special care needs and patients waiting on essential public orthodontic treatment. 

Mr Hourihan said: “It is shameful that children, special care, and other vulnerable patients are not receiving the dental care they are entitled to, with many suffering unnecessarily later in life as a result.” 

The simple solution is to adequately staff and resource our public dental service, he added.

“Too many children are slipping through the cracks, despite all the evidence showing that the younger a child is when they are first examined, the less likely the need for major treatment or extractions later.” 

These issues will be discussed at an Irish Dental Association seminar for dentists in the public service which is taking place in Portlaoise today.