THE Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) in Clare is suffering serious decay after official figures reveal almost 3,000 fewer local medical card holders were treated over a two-year period.
This is despite a dramatic increase in the number of Clare patients who are eligible for treatment under the DTSS, which increased from 31,909 in December 2019 to 33,064 in August 2022.
In total, 8,683 Clare dental patients were treated under the DTSS in December 2019, according to figures provided to Councillor Cillian Murphy at a HSE Forum West meeting on Tuesday. This slumped to 5,762 in December 2021 and the latest statistic for 2022 is for August, which stands at 3,661.
Private dental practitioners contracted under the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) provide dental services to medical card holders adults who are 16 years of age or older.
The latest shocking figures come hot on the heels of an anti-poverty strategy commissioned by the Clare Public Participation Network, which showed there are there are 16 dentists in Clare, or 1.26 per 10,000 population.
This is just under half the national average of 2.38 per 10,000.
“At the moment you can’t get a dentist in West Clare,’ said one resident in Kilrush during a group interview held in the town in April 2022.
“If you’re on a medical card it looks like the nearest dentist that will take you on if you are new to the scheme is in Limerick. They’ve stopped taking medical cards full stop in Kilrush.”
The number of Clare dentists who received a payment under the DTSS fell from 14 in January 2022 to nine in August 2022.
Councillor Murphy expressed grave concern about the decline in the number of Clare dentists who have received a payment under the DTSS.
“A large number of medical card holders are finding it very difficult to get an appointment with a dentist. This is a big issue that needs to be addressed. We need to identify the reasons why there has been a decline in the number of DTSS dentists.
Councillor Mary Howard, who tabled a motion on dental cover in Clare at a previous HSE West Forum meeting, confirmed she gets a huge amount of calls from people who are trying to get an appointment with a dentist in Clare.
Regardless of whether a person is a medical card holder or a private patient, Councillor Howard stressed that people needed to obtain dental care.
“People are looking for the service and it is not there. It is very frustrating for people. The whole system seems to be broken. More dentists need to be brought into the system as soon as possible.”
Mid-West Community Healthcare Chief Officer, Maria Bridgeman stated that under the DTSS a medical card holder is not restricted to attending a DTSS contracted dental practitioner
in their own county.
They can attend a DTSS contracted dental practitioner anywhere in the country for dental treatment if the dental practitioner is in a position to take them on.
Therefore, medical card holders from Clare can travel outside the county to avail of dental treatment under the scheme and, likewise, medical card holders from outside the county can avail of dental treatment in Clare if they access one.
This issue was also raised at a Dáil Health Committee by Deputy Cathal Crowe, who revealed he had a broken tooth for five weeks.
Deputy Crowe called on the HSE to conduct a capacity mapping audit in Clare to identify where the health deficiencies are at community level.
Ms Bridgeman said the HSE could carry out this mapping exercise.
“We are very much aware of the dental treatment services scheme, DTSS, and the dentists. At a national level, there was an incentivised initiative put in place but dentists did not apply in numbers for that. We are aware of the issue and we are without question challenged in respect of dental provision for medical card holders,” she said.
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.