Nineteen recommendations made to reform medical card scheme that is 'haemorrhaging dentists'

The chairperson of the Oireachtas Health Committee said: 'Too many children are leaving primary school without ever having had a dental screening.' File picture

A medical card scheme for dental services in Ireland is “haemorrhaging dentists”, and too many children are leaving primary school without having ever had a dental screening, an Oireachtas committee has warned.

In a new report, the Oireachtas Health Committee has made 19 recommendations it said must be implemented as a priority to improve dental services in Ireland. Chairperson Pádraig Rice said the committee has been concerned for some time at the “deepening crisis” in dental services.

“We are still waiting on an implementation plan, seven years after the national oral health policy was published,” Mr Rice said. “Unfortunately, there has been little noticeable improvement since 2019. 

"In fact, it can be argued that the situation has deteriorated. The medical card scheme is haemorrhaging dentists with the number of contracted dentists having halved in a decade.

“Too many children are leaving primary school without ever having had a dental screening. In 2023, fewer than 104,000 children were screened out of an eligible cohort of 208,000.” 

The first recommendation of the committee is the urgent implementation of the National Oral Health Policy from 2019, which it said has yet to be delivered, with a time-bound plan a priority.

This must involve a strategic workforce plan to ensure sufficient numbers of dentists are available to meet current and future needs, with figures suggesting the number of dentists on the medical card scheme has more than halved.

As well as a public-only contract and expanding the role of dental hygienists and nurses, it also recommended the delivery of the new dental school in University College Cork.

Furthermore, it said existing dental legislation is 40 years old and the Government must commit to publishing new heads of a bill within the next six months.

Mr Rice added that the structure and funding of public dental services had been neglected for far too long.

“Urgent action is required without further delay, and there is need for clear commitment from the minister for health to address this matter," he said.

'Meaningful reforms' needed

Reacting to the report, the Irish Dental Association said it must mark the “end of the decades-long neglect of oral health” in this country.

“As we approach the publication of the long-awaited [policy implementation plan], this report supports our view that significant investment is required to achieve meaningful reforms which offer sufficient access, coverage and quality of care to the general population, particularly those experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage,” it said.

“Hundreds of thousands of patients cannot afford further delays to comprehensive oral healthcare reforms.” 

Minister for health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has acknowledged the challenges in the system and committed to reform, while the department said its new plan would consider the report's recommendations. 

"The Department of Health and HSE are currently at an advanced stage in developing an Oral Health Action Plan which sets out a focused, two‑year programme to improve oral health services, reduce waiting times and deliver meaningful improvements in access for patients, while laying the foundations for longer‑term reform," it said.