OIREACHTAS HEALTH COMMITTEE:MANY SCHOOL children are no longer able to access free dental care across the State as clinics where treatment was carried out have been closed down to cut costs, the Oireachtas health committee was told yesterday.

The committee also heard a claim from the Irish Dental Association that the provision of dentures to medical card holders is also under threat.

Fintan Hourihan, chief executive of the association, said services were being rationed and if spending on dentures was next to go, there would be a huge outcry. A full set of dentures, fitted privately, could cost up to €1,000.

Dr Rosarii McCaffrey, president of the public dental surgeons committee of the association and a dentist in the northeast, said six of the 11 dental clinics for school children in Cavan/Monaghan have been closed, in addition to a clinic at Laytown in Co Meath. She said the closures were a result of a Health Service Executive embargo on recruitment.

As a result she said, children were only treated in the event of an emergency, with only those in pain being seen. “Treatment is not being done, decay is not being filled, so something that could be a small hole in a tooth today will probably be an extraction in four or five years time. You can be guaranteed there will be children and teenagers losing permanent teeth because of this,” she said. The committee was also told that some children in the southern region are waiting up to four years for orthodontic treatment. Dr Ciara Scott, a dental association council member and HSE orthodontist, said HSE orthodontic services have suffered as a result of recruitment freezes. She also said some regions get better management support and funding than others.

In addition, Mr Hourihan told the meeting dentists were “haemorrhaging” from the State scheme to provide dental care to medical card patients. “In many parts of the country, blackspots exist where very few dentists are participating in the DTSS scheme and patients are left to travel great distances to be seen for treatment.

“Significant waiting lists are now emerging of patients waiting to be seen by general practitioners, a completely unacceptable development. This reflects completely inadequate State funding of this service and the difficulties which have arisen because of the view that a review of this scheme in partnership with the Irish Dental Association may be contrary to the Competition Act,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Maurice Quirke said people should be warned about travelling overseas for dental treatment. He said he recently saw a patient who got 22 crowns on teeth not in need of them and unable to support them because of gum disease. He was not against shopping around but it was better to get treatment where follow-up care could be provided.