Kids wait 6 years for treatment

There is currently a six-year waiting list for child orthodontic care in Cork city, with 104,000 children waiting for public dental appointments.

The figures were released by the HSE following a parliamentary question from Colm Burke TD.

“The figures confirm what families already know, that there simply are not enough dentists in the public system in Cork. This is most stark for children, where delays to screening and treatment can have lasting consequences,” he said.

The figures released also showed there has been no increase in the number of senior dental surgeons employed by the HSE in Cork and Kerry who provide for those with special needs.

The HSE employs 13 senior dentists in this capacity, equating to 9.33 whole-time equivalents (WTEs) across the region, which Deputy Burke described as “wholly insufficient”.

Ireland has lost more than 640 dentists providing care under the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) in the past 12 years, falling from 1,452 in 2012, to 810 in 2024, according to figures released by the Irish Dental Association (IDA).

According to their data, released as part of their 2025 Annual Report, 90% of private general dentists have stated that they would not partake in a proposed scheme under the National Oral Health Plan to treat children in private clinics, citing “staffing shortages and deficits in paediatric expertise”.

They also highlighted a two-year waiting list for treatments requiring general anaesthetic.

Dentists “are being forced to choose which children they believe are suffering the most pain and treat them ahead of patients who may have already been waiting months or years”.

Understaffing in school screening was also raised, with children who should be having check-ups in second, fourth, and sixth class not having their first until fourth year of secondary school.

“These missed assessments are unlikely to ever be recovered,” they said.

Deputy Burke said the continued decline in dentist numbers, combined with static HSE staffing levels, “risks undermining the entire public dental system”.

He called for an increase in recruitment of public dentists in Cork and immediate action to address waiting lists for children and special needs, as well as other measures.

“Without decisive action of recruitment, contract reform and training capacity, children in Cork will continue to wait far too long for basic dental care,” he said.

“Access to dental care should not depend on ability to pay. Children deserve timely, preventative care, not years on a waiting list,” he said.