Irish Dental Association urges Government to increase funding for state schemes
The Irish Dental Association is urging the government to do more to fund state dental schemes. According to new figures, household expenditure on oral health has been reduced by 50 percent in just five years.
The household budget survey by the Central Statistics Office revealed that the average household in Ireland spent €84.53 on dental care in 2016 compared to €197 in 2010. This equates to a total reduction of 57 percent.
Chief executive of the Irish Dental Association, Fintan Hourihan, said that he was “seriously concerned” about the figures and the impact of reductions of state funding. The statistics show that Irish people are not spending money on dental care, and this is likely to lead to a reduction in standards of oral health in the future.
Mr Hourihan has asked Leo Varadkar to form a ‘cross-departmental group’ to discuss how to respond to the problem of reduced spending.
Mr Hourihan suggested that state spending on dental care has been slashed by €500 million, and this is likely to result in higher rates of preventable oral disease going forward. He urged the government to do more to increase funding for state programmes in a bid to reduce the prevalence of preventable conditions, including gum disease and dental decay. Mr Hourihan said that dental treatment should not be “an optional expense” and added that the government should recognise that “prevention is better than cure.”
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