DENTAL HEALTH CRISIS
» Ireland less dentists than 23 other EU states » Kids are not getting regular oral check-ups
IRELAND has the fewest dentists per head of population out of 24 European countries, according to a new study.
This means a large number of children are not getting regular dental check-ups – proving the country is in the grips of an oral hygiene crisis.
Ireland came bottom of a table with Austria logging the second lowest number of dentists per capita, while Romania had the highest number.
Reacting to the findings Fintan Hourihan, chief executive of the Irish Dental Associatoin, said: “It confirms what we have been saying and what we have been warning about for quite some time. In our journal, we have seen a record number of classified ads looking for dentists, and this International Dental Journal [study] shows we have the fewest number of dentists in Europe. “The essence of dentistry is prevention. What it means ultimately is patients will end up presenting in pain looking for emergency pain relief and facing the prospect of losing teeth rather than saving teeth. “If people aren’t getting to see the dentist regularly, their oral health will suffer and the people who suffer the most are the ones who need it most and the ones who probably have the greatest difficulty in affording dental care.” Mr Hourihan said dentists – both those in private practice and in the public service – are reporting chronic cases of bad dental health.
He added: “We are appalled and shocked by stories of patients presenting with such bad dental health that you’re talking about a full clearance where all of your teeth, top and bottom removed.
“That’s obviously an extreme and rare scenario but dentists are saying whereas you wouldn’t have seen it at all 10 years ago, now you are seeing it on an occasional basis and that’s a warning sign.”
The study, published in the International Dental Journal, found the ratios of general dentists to population varied from a low of one to every 712 people in Romania to a high of one to 1,770 citizens in Ireland.
Czech Republic had the worst ratio of dental CONCERN Hourihan specialists to population. Ireland had the fifth lowest specialist per head of population in the table of 24 countries. The annual number of students admitted to dental schools is controlled in Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Ireland, Poland and Sweden. But in places like Romania, Portugal, and Spain where there are a high number of private dental schools, graduates can be unemployed. There are 10,594 kids with the most severe and complex orthodontic treatment needs waiting for treatment - 2,589 of them for more than two years, HSE figures show. The HSE said there are currently 3,649 dentists on the Dental Council’s register, with plans to expand college places aimed at training an additional 63 dentists annually.