Pa Daly, Sinn Féin TD for Kerry, has called on the Minister for Health to expand Public Dental Service in the county.
“Since I was elected I have been continually approached by medical card holders who cannot access any dental care in Kerry,” Teachta Daly said this week.
“For a few months in 2022, one dentist in the entire county was taking on medical card patients. Needless to say they were quickly overwhelmed and had to stop taking on additional patients.
No Dentist for Medical Card Holders
“We are now back to the standard position of 2020 and 2021, which is that no dentist in Kerry will take on new medical card patients.
Most dentists are exiting the Dental Treatment Service Scheme (‘DTSS’) as the contract is so flawed.
All but routine care requires prior approval and this has led to a shocking statistic that approximately 83% of dental care provided in the country is privately funded. Put another way, many are going without essential dental care as they simply cannot afford it.”
Suffering Hard to Comprehend
“The level of suffering that adults and children are forced to tolerate is hard to comprehend, and yet the standard response I receive from Minister Donnelly and the HSE is that medical card patients should seek care in Cork and Limerick, or elsewhere.
“These problems are not unique to Kerry. I know of children whose mental health has been severely affected due to ongoing pain and embarrassment they face due to orthodontic problems.
“Students are in second and third year before they receive their sixth class check-up, and those requiring orthodontic referrals are in fifth year or sixth year before they are seen.
More Urgent Action
“While I welcome the news this week that the Public Dental Clinic in Centre Point will soon commence a service providing emergency appointments for adult patients, we need bolder and more urgent action to address the challenges the system faces.
“I attended an Oireachtas briefing by the Irish Dental Association today where I heard that practising public only dentists have dropped by 23% in the past 15 years.
“It seems the HSE has done nothing to halt this attrition. They would need to hire 76 dentists immediately to bring the service back to the level of staffing it had 15 years ago.
Emergency Circumstances Only
“Since 2010, most treatments were suspended or only provided in ‘emergency circumstances’. This has tied the hands of dentists on DTSS and removed any autonomy they had to provide the level of care they believe is necessary. This is made worse by chronic under-staffing and lack of resources in the public dental service.
“Ninety Percent of dentists in the Irish Dental Association want a state funded scheme that provides an appropriate level of prevention and care to medical card patients.
“Minister Donnelly must address the problems to ensure that people, in particular vulnerable adults and children, can receive dental care that enables them to live their lives pain- and stigma-free,” Teachta Daly insists.
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