DENTISTS HAVE warned they will be unable to cope with the large increase in the number of people who, due to the economic downturn, will be entitled to free dental care under the medical card scheme.
Research in the current issue of the Journal of the Irish Dental Association shows the number of dentists actively providing treatment to medical card patients has fallen by over 6 per cent.
The study by Dr Liam Lynch, a dentist in Cork, found that just 833 dentists were actively participating in the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) between July 2007 and July of this year. The DTSS offers free dental care to patients with medical cards.
Fintan Hourihan, chief executive of the Irish Dental Association, said the research confirmed "the virtual collapse of the medical card scheme".
"Unfortunately, the Health Service Executive [HSE] Service Plan for 2009 provides for a 4.3 per cent increase in dental treatments against a projected increase in medical card holders of over 6 per cent and in fact the number of medical card holders is expected to increase by significantly greater than this estimate."
The HSE service plan has indicated it will have to make close to €1 billion in savings in response to additional drug costs and the rising number of people entitled to a medical card as a result of mounting job losses.
Mr Hourihan said the net result will be a further cutback in services for patients.
"In many areas of the country there are greater numbers of dentists outside the scheme than within - in Meath the number of participating dentists has fallen from 36 to 7 in a very short period of time".
He said the number of resignations around the country had caused "huge" disruption for patients and an "intolerable" pressure on public dental services.
"To compound these problems, the Government is now moving to halve the support it offers patients who are seen privately by restricting tax relief to the standard rate from January 1st next."
The research, based on an analysis of figures provided by the HSE's primary care reimbursement service, found that 34 per cent of dentists who hold medical card contracts did not make a claim (indicating they had treated a patient) in any one month.
According to Dr Lynch, "a far better measure (of services available to DTSS patients) would be a count of numbers of active dentists in combination with their geographic spread and medical care population density".