Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Over recent years, I have lost count of the number of times I have heard of people going to Newry in the North or even abroad for dental treatment due to the cost and lack of availability of dental services in my constituency of Louth and east Meath. The lack of dental services is having a detrimental effect on children. For example, I spoke to a constituent last week about the orthodontic situation in Dundalk. Her daughter got braces two years ago. It was done publicly through the HSE. However, the orthodontist in question quit in February and the child has gone from being seen every seven weeks to not being seen for the past four months. She is looking after her braces herself. The mother inquired about the situation last week and was told there was nothing in the pipeline as regards interviews or potential replacements for the orthodontist in Louth, and even if one were appointed today, her daughter would not be seen for more than six months. At best, this child would be seen at the end of the year. Going private is not an option, as private orthodontists are either too busy or not taking referrals. This is one of many stories I have heard concerning children.

I have been contacted by numerous concerned constituents who have been refused dental care at their regular practices due to their medical card status. Constituents who are on the adult oral surgery list or who have a child on the paediatric special care waiting list have also come to my clinic, having waited an extraordinary length of time for their essential medical treatment. Some children who should have been seen by HSE dental care services three times before the age of 12 years are only being seen by dentists for the first time when they are well into secondary school. To put it in context, children are not being seen for the first of their three dental checks until they are 15 or 16 years of age. In parts of the country, there is a backlog of almost ten years in accessing the HSE’s school dental screening services.

Due to the effective collapse of the dental treatment services scheme, oral diseases are becoming more common. As they share common risk factors with chronic diseases like heart disease, obesity and diabetes, this highlights the potential dangers to which delayed dental care can lead.

Although the Minister for Health approved new measures to provide expanded dental care services for medical card holders under the dental treatment scheme in April 2022, the Irish Dental Association has stated that many dentists have withdrawn from the scheme and that it is not fit for purpose, meaning that access to dental care is scarce despite having a medical card. The number of dentists providing treatment to medical card holders more than halved.

All of this points to a grim picture for rural health services. This is a national health emergency and it is time the Government started treating it as such. This flies in the face of the Government’s promise under the national oral health policy to develop a model of care that would improve access and enable a preventative approach. The Minister for Health and the HSE urgently need to engage the providers and their representative bodies on putting an effective plan and resources in place to ensure that the people of Louth and east Meath have timely and effective access to essential dental treatment. Prevention is the best cure.

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