'Ireland needs to do better' on dental care for people with disabilities

Concerns have been raised about people who are unable to see a dentist and may end up have teeth extracted which could have been saved. Stock picture

Ireland must do better for people with disabilities who need dental care but can end up losing their teeth due to delays, the president of the Irish Society for Disability and Oral Health has urged.

Gillian Smith said: “It’s important that people living with disability in Ireland have the same number of teeth as others, that they can access services just like people without disabilities.

“And that they can live their life with a full set of teeth into old age.” 

She was speaking to the Irish Examiner during the International Association for Disability and Oral Health conference in Dublin.

Concerns were raised at the conference about people who are unable to see a dentist and may end up have teeth extracted which could have been saved.

“Ireland needs to do better, we need to reduce oral health inequities in this country,” she said.

The society has raised its concerns with the HSE.

“We have asked the HSE and the Department of Health to make it a top priority that they ensure we have posts within the HSE for specialist dentists trained in managing and helping people with disabilities,” she said.

The society wants to see this funded programme implemented in line with the national oral health policy.

The Department of Health’s chief dental officer Dr Dymphna Kavanagh attended the conference on Thursday. 

A new World Health Organisation oral health policy launched at the conference recommended changes in how people with disability are treated.

Ms Smith said these gaps are also reflected in Ireland, saying: 

“It is unacceptable that people with a disability in Ireland continue to suffer with untreated oral disease leading to pain, infection or difficulty eating.”

The conference also heard a Norwegian research group discuss the impact of previous trauma on how autistic people among others experience dental or medical care.