CUTBACKS TO the medical card dental scheme, which came into force this week, have been described as “unsafe, unworkable and unethical” by the Irish Dental Association.
Earlier this week, dentists received a circular from the HSE saying it was prioritising the range of treatments available under the Dental Treatment Services Scheme, because the budget had limited spending under the scheme to €63 million. The scheme cost more than €87 million last year.
The circular, which came into effect last Wednesday, said the HSE would provide emergency dental care to eligible patients “with a focus on relief of pain and sepsis [blood poisoning]”. It said additional care would be considered in “exceptional or high-risk cases”.
Medical card patients would be entitled to a yearly examination and a maximum of two fillings, unless there were “emergency circumstances”.
The cutbacks follow other changes made in the budget that reduced the benefits available to taxpayers under the PRSI dental treatment benefits scheme.
Previously, taxpayers with the required social insurance contributions were entitled to two free dental examinations a year, a teeth-cleaning session and discounts on treatments such as fillings and extractions. This has been reduced to one free check-up a year.
The Irish Dental Association said the HSE was “dismantling” the medical card dental scheme.
Its chief executive Fintan Hourihan said the cutbacks would result in hundreds of thousands of card holders being denied a range of routine treatments.
He said the most vulnerable people would be hit the hardest and he predicted that the dental health of the nation would be set back “by decades”.
Mr Hourihan also said the cuts did not make any financial sense as every case of delayed treatment would require “hugely expensive” treatment in future years.
He urged Minister for Health Mary Harney to direct the HSE to recall the circular and to engage with the association immediately.
The number of people covered by medical cards was expected to exceed 1.6 million this year, he added.
“The IDA believes it is grossly irresponsible of the HSE to cut spending back to 2008 levels with hundreds of thousands more people now holding medical cards and argues that spending should be increased by €30 million to €100 million to cope with the increased demands on the system”.
Labour’s health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan said the circular “brings us back to the Dark Ages of dental treatment when teeth were extracted without any other options”.
She said it would result in serious dental problems being stored up for the future.
A HSE spokeswoman said fewer routine treatments would be available under the scheme and treatment limits had been placed on certain treatments.
“Emergency dental care will continue to be provided and where additional treatment over and above the new limits is required, it will be provided subject to the dentist being satisfied of the patient’s emergency clinical need.”
