Professor Leo Stassen:

It is a form of assault. Clinical dental technicians are a different group of people. There is not a huge number of them but they work very closely with general dental practitioners, hospital specialists and consultants. They are trained to a very high level. They know their scope of practice and what they can and cannot do. In fairness, their role is well supported by the Irish Dental Association and hospital practice. The clinical dental technician is a completely different person to the dental technician or denturists who, in many cases, provide illegal dentistry to patients. Anybody who provides direct access must have a scope of practice and must be compulsorily regulated.

I believe I have answered most of the Deputies' questions but I will go back to Deputy Durkan. Orthodontics is a very sexy name and everybody likes to talk about it. Orthodontists do an extraordinarily good job and many of my very good friends are orthodontists. What are forgotten about are the other dentistry professionals who work very closely with orthodontists. I am speaking about restorative dentists, periodontists, endodontists, oral surgeons and maxillofacial surgeons. We all work very closely together. Part of the problem with orthodontics is when a mother and father are, quite correctly, worried about their child and bring the matter to all of the Deputies to highlight the issues with orthodontics. However, the rest of dentistry and the specialisations we have spoken about are sometimes forgotten. I have four children and I want them to have nice teeth, as does every parent, because it is very important. I am supportive of what has been achieved. I agree with Deputy Durkan that dental care is not just about orthodontics; it is about the whole of the dental team providing a service to patients in order to ensure that they have what the Minister, Deputy Harris, referred to, which is equitable and the highest quality of oral health. I do not know whether I have answered all of the Deputies' questions.