The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
STAFF shortages, clinic closures and a lack of policy and direction by the HSE are putting an intolerable burden on the public dental service, it has been claimed. Speaking at the HSE dentists annual seminar in Athlone, Fintan Hourihan, chiefexecutive of the Irish Dental Association, pointed out that while the under 16 population had increased by 20% over the past decade to 1.1million, the number of dentists in the public dental service charged with looking after their oral health had dropped by 20% due to a recruitment embargo. Mr Hourihan said the fact that dentists in some areas were pulling almost as many children’s teeth as they were filling was a stark example of how bad the situation had become. He called on the Minister for Health, Simon Harris to intervene in the situation immediately. “Figures for six community care areas – for which exact numbers are available – show that almost 16,000 primary school children missed their school screening …
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