WAITING times to access school dentists are so bad that one West Cork teenager, who was told they needed braces in second class, is still waiting for them after 11 years, while a Bandon dentist who was out of work for 14 months was never replaced, a meeting heard this week.
Cllrs Finbarr Harrington (Ind) and Cllr Mary Linehan Foley (Ind) raised a motion at this week’s meeting of Cork County Council, calling on the HSE and the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to urgently address the long waiting times and, in some cases, the lack of availability in the school dental programme for children.
Cllr Harrington said there is a complete lack of school dentists, not just across the county, but all over the country.
‘The issue is that the service is understaffed and the waiting times are far too long. They even seem to be getting worse,’ said Cllr Harrington.
‘Orthodontic waiting times for children are beyond belief and parents are having to go private to get their kids accessed,’ he added.
He also said he recently met a parent whose daughter was assessed and needed braces when she was in second class.
‘She’s now 19 and she still hasn’t got a call. A waiting time of 11 years is too much,’ said Cllr Harrington.
Speaking afterwards, the councillor said that the girl is still eligible for braces despite being an adult, because she is still in the system.
Cllr Harrington pointed out that, ironically, many of the HSE’s primary care centres have dental facilities in place, but there isn’t anyone to staff them.
‘I am asking the Minister to intervene and make hiring dentists a priority in all these facilities across the country. It’s a massive issue for children seeking dental treatment and it’s putting huge financial pressure on parents who have to go private.’
Cllr Caroline Cronin (FG) said this is an issue she has been addressing for the past two years and noted that four clinics in West Cork – Castletownbere, Skibbereen, Schull and Dunmanway – have been closed in recent years.
‘The HSE have, however, stated their commitment to prioritising finding a dental surgeon for Schull. They also stated that the dental screening of sixth class children is on target in West Cork and they expect to start screening second class children later this year,’ said Cllr Cronin.
‘The school dentist was available to all of us in this chamber while in national school and the fact that there are state-of-the-art dental clinics in primary care centres in both Schull and Castletownbere sitting idle is just not good enough.’
She called for these clinics to be back up and running as soon as possible.
Cllr Deirdre Kelly (FF) pointed out that the closure of these four clinics has put pressure on the existing ones, and said parents in Dunmanway are now forced to travel to the clinic in Clonakilty.
Her colleague Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy agreed, and said having both Schull and Castletownbere closed puts people at a serious disadvantage geographically.
Cllr Ann Bambury (SD) said a dentist at the primary care health centre in Bandon who was out of work for 14 months did not get a replacement while she was out.
‘Recruitment and retention of staff is vital. I’ve had to go private for all my children, and my daughter never received an appointment in primary school. The dentist told me that children should be seen in second and sixth class,’ said Cllr Bambury.
Cllr Mary Linehan Foley (Ind) said some parents are forking out thousands of euro for treatment while other parents simply cannot afford to and their children will then go untreated.
