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Dentists have claimed that HSE cutbacks to the Medical Card and PRSI schemes are going to wipe out significant improvements which have been made in oral health in Ireland over the past 30 years.
According to a newly published report, The O?Neill Report 2010, the oral health of Irish citizens has improved and there has been a reduction in health inequalities for adults and children since 1980.
The report says this is the result of a number of factors including water fluoridation, self care and the contribution of Irish dentistry.
The report also highlights the role the Public Dental Services has played in improving the dental health of children under 16 and the success of the needs based system which operates here in reducing health inequalities.
The report by Ciaran O'Neill, Professor of Health Technology Assessment at NUI Galway, also found major differences in the state supports available to dentists in the Republic and Northern Ireland.
While dentists in NI received approximately E37,000 in practice allowance grants no such support was available in the Republic of Ireland. Professor O'Neill said some might view such state support in the North as providing a competitive advantage.
The report, which examines the contribution of dentistry to the health and economy of Ireland, found that the sector supports 1,990 jobs directly - a figure not dissimilar to the number of GPs employed - and 2,488 support jobs including hygienists, technicians and assistants etc etc.
Welcoming the publication of the report at the Irish Dental Association's annual conference in Galway, the IDA Chief Executive Fintan Hourihan said it was a timely reminder of the progress which has been made in recent years by the profession.
"This report shows the huge advances that have been made in the oral health of the nation thanks in large measure to the expertise and commitment of dentists in Ireland. These improvements have been achieved in spite of rather than because of support from the state. This is graphically illustrated in Professor O'Neill's research where he contrasts the funding available to dentists in NI and doctors in general practice here in the Republic with the complete lack of funding available to dentists" Hourihan said.
Pointing to the huge contribution of the Medical Card and PRSI schemes to the overall improvement in oral health, Hourihan described the HSE's decision to annihilate the Medical Card scheme at less than 24 hours notice as nothing less than a cynical and contemptuous decision.
"This is a particularly reprehensible move as the 1.6 million people who are going to suffer most are the people in greatest need of treatment. If a short term expedient approach is adopted and funding is withdrawn for routine treatments we will end up paying the price long into the future. Look at the health system today. Even after the Celtic Tiger years we are still paying the price for the cutbacks of the 1980s" Hourihan concluded.
ENDS.
Note to Editors
Soft copy version of The O?Neill Report 2010 available on request.
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