Sir, – I refer to Paul Cullen's article, "Cost of delaying dental care will be felt in the future" (December 2nd). I too have some concerns about the costs which will be paid in the future due to lack of dental screening for children.
In April 2013 The Irish Times published a report based on a Europe-wide study which found that people who drank sugar-sweetened drinks were at higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
For every additional regular can-sized, sugar-sweetened drink per day there is a 22 per cent increased risk of developing the disease.
The medical profession regularly warns of the impending “epidemic” that is diabetes.
Dental screening is a simple and effective method of determining potential risks of future diseases such as diabetes which are not otherwise easily detected.
Cullen’s article refers to the financial costs of remedial dental work, thankfully this is possible even at a price; we enjoy no such luxury with diabetes.
The main political interest in dentistry in this country is on state provision of orthodontic services.
For the lucky few who receive state-funded orthodontic treatment, there is no provision of follow-up care and maintenance. The result is that it is now a regular occurrence for dentists to extract decayed teeth for patients for whom the state has provided orthodontic treatment a few years earlier.
The title of Cullen’s article may indeed be prophetic for more reasons than he describes. –Yours, etc,
PÁDRAIG Ó REACHTAGÁIN
Dental Surgeon,
Castle Street,
Roscrea,
Co Tipperary.