Dr. Dympna Kavanagh:

I can speak on policy but I want to be clear that I am not speaking on behalf of the service. When we are looking at this with regard to policy and in line with Sláintecare, the intention would be for the assessment to happen as quickly as possible. We have talked quite a lot about advanced care and the importance of specialist care but one of the key points of Sláintecare is to ensure that as much as possible is carried out in the local primary care setting. This is a key task for the Dental Council, secondary care services and orthodontic care services. What elements of orthodontics can be appropriately conducted in a primary care setting to speed up care provision? That is the type of service that is provided in other European countries when they provide orthodontic care. The UK has traditionally operated a specialist service but it is now looking at many treatments being in primary care, where that would be possible and appropriate. I am not suggesting that it happen for advanced care services but where possible and appropriate, the Dental Council will look at that in conjunction with the committee for specialist training.