Irish Dental Association calls for ringfencing of beds for general anaesthetic dental services for children and patients with special needs
The number of dental surgeons employed by the HSE has fallen by 31 per cent in the past 20 years, despite a 32 per cent growth in the population since then, the Irish Dental Association has said.
New figures released by the organisation also show that more than 1,800 dental patients with special needs are on waiting lists, while 1,450 children across the country are waiting more than one year for vital care.
“It is vital we ensure that patients with additional needs are treated with the dignity they deserve,” said IDA President Dr Bridget Harrington-Barry.
“As highlighted by the dramatic drop in dental surgeons employed by the HSE since 2005, we would also like to see additional investment in the recruitment and training of dentists.
IDA President Dr Bridget Harrington-Barry
“By contrast, the number of junior doctors (NCHDs) has risen by 52 per cent between 2012 and 2021, consultants by 44 per cent, admin staff by 37 per cent and nurses by 20 per cent.
“Why has public service dentistry been singled out and been utterly devastated as a service when the number of dental patients has increased by over 25 per cent in the past twenty years?”
Of the 1,801 special care patients waiting for access to public dental treatment under general anaesthetic, almost half (49 per cent) have been waiting for more than 12 months.
Meanwhile, all children on the waiting list in HSE Mid West are waiting more than 12 months to undergo treatment. HSE South West has the highest absolute number of children waiting, with 979 children on lists.
Children also make up over half of all patients waiting for dental treatment under general anaesthetic. These waits occur during critical developmental years, increasing risks of pain, infections requiring the use of antibiotics, missed schooling and emergency department presentations.
Dr Harrington-Barry has called on Government to ringfence acute hospital beds to ensure general anaesthetic services are provided for children and special care dental patients across the country.
The ringfencing proposal was last week endorsed by a report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health. Referencing the overall deterioration of public dental services, committee chair and TD Pádraig Rice said: “Urgent action is required without further delay, and there is need for clear commitment from the Minister for Health to address this matter.”
The data was released ahead of the IDA’s annual conference which got underway on Thursday.
“Following sustained difficulties in securing consistent access to capacity in my own clinic in University Hospital Galway, last year we ringfenced a service for my paediatric special care patients,” said Dr Harrington-Barry.
“The initiative has been a major success, and we have since not been required to cancel paediatric special care procedures. This new data shows that we urgently need to ringfence beds across the country to combat special care waiting lists. We also need to extend the initiative to include vulnerable adult patients.”
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