Dental services - Oral health policy lacks direction

IT is hardly an exaggeration for the new president of the Irish Dental Association (IDA), Dr John Barry, to assert that a crisis looms in publicly funded dental services and schemes.

The facts, unfortunately, speak for themselves and illustrate how negligent the Government has been in failing to provide those services, especially for children and those with special needs.

Because of the failure to appoint anybody to the post of Chief Dental Officer since the previous incumbent retired two and a half years ago, the country’s publicly funded dental services are in serious disarray.