More than 18,200 children are on waiting lists for orthodontic treatment, including 6,800 who have been waiting for treatment for over two years, according to new figures.
The number of children on the list was up 2,300 in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2014, the figures provided to Fianna Fail health spokesman Billy Kelleher show. There was an increase of over 1,000 in the number of young people waiting over 18 months.
News of the lengthening waiting lists comes as Minister for Health Leo Varadkar and his officials disputed claims by the Irish Dental Association that up to 10,000 young people are being hospitalised each year for extractions under general anaesthetic.
Mr Varadkar and the chief dental officer in his department, Dr Dymphna Kavanagh, said they believed the correct number was 3,600. A national audit of general anaesthetic waiting lists for children and special needs patients will be carried out by the HSE, they said.
IDA general secretary Fintan Hourihan said he stood "four-square" behind the 10,000 figure, which was supplied by a source on a confidential basis. Government cuts to school dental services was undermining the service and contributing, along with children's sugar-rich diet, to the rise in hospitalisations, he insisted.
The collection of data on dental waiting lists has been hampered since the association last year instructed members in the HSE not to take on additional duties due to a row over the appointment of staff to senior posts.
Staff numbers in the public dentistry service are down about 20 per cent from pre-boom levels, and this has led to increasing waiting lists for routine and orthodontic treatment.
The HSE said dental health in Irish children was quite good. It urged the IDA the revoke the direction to staff not to forward important statistics so the health service could address the needs of areas requiring more resources.
