In July last year, the Oireachtas health committee was told by the Irish Dental Association (IDA) that almost 500 more dentists are needed immediately because of the growing population and to replace those dentists who are due to retire.
A survey carried out by the association in 2023 revealed that one in six patients were waiting over three months for a routine appointment with their dentist while more than half were facing delays of longer than three months for specialist care, including orthodontic and oral surgery.
Ireland desperately needs more dentists and dental professionals, according to Professor Albert Leung, past dean of the RCSI Faculty of Dentistry.
“Currently, Ireland has 44 dentists per 100,000 of the population,” he says.
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“Germany and Italy have double that number, the UK has 53. A lot of Irish people find it extremely hard to access dental care. At present, we have just two dental schools in UCC and Trinity producing 80 dentists a year.”
That’s far short of the 500 required. The good news for those wishing to take up a career in dentistry is that RCSI is starting a new dentistry school in 2025.
The college offers a range of postgraduate and continuing professional education programmes in dentistry, but this will be the first time since 1976 that it will provide an undergraduate degree programme.
“This will hopefully address the issue,” says Leung. “The Government recognised the huge shortage and issued a competition for a new undergraduate programme through the Higher Education Authority. RCSI took part and was approved. We are at final stages of this now and the course is subject to final regulatory approval through the Dental Council of Ireland.”
The new programme will be a National University of Ireland degree through RCSI.
“It will be approved by both bodies. It is a five-year programme in line with first graduates qualifying in 2030. They will receive Bachelor in Dental Surgery Level 8. The programme capacity is 75 students, but that will have to be ramped up slowly. It will take time to get to that level.”
The new programme will be different in nature to the existing courses, he points out.
“The current courses involve hospital-based training, the RCSI degree will focus on primary care and patient-centred training,” he says.
“It is about delivering high quality dental care in the community. Between 90 and 95 per cent of dentists work in primary care. What better way to train than in the community. That will help address local health needs, align with national policy and reduce inequality. We will address the problems where the people are.”
The funding structure will see the programme cater for a combination of EU and non-EU students.
“It will depend on the level of support from the government,” he explains. “The more support we get the more EU students we can take. RCSI will make a deficit on each Irish student, but we are committed to that because we want to make a difference.”
Orthodontists are also in short supply. This is no surprise as to become a specialist orthodontist, you have to first qualify as a dentist, then gain general experience in the field before going on to undertake a specialist three-year full-time training programme. There are just two such programmes in Ireland available from UCC and Trinity.
Dental care provision requires more than just qualified dentists and orthodontists, of course, and the country is also experiencing a shortage of dental hygienists.
“This is such an important area of dentistry,” says Dr Sarah Flannery of the Azure dental and aesthetics practice in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
“I started out as a dental hygienist before going on to qualify as a dentist. It’s about preventative dentistry. Oral hygiene is associated with other conditions such as heart disease and diabetes and dental hygienists have a key role to play there. Just 24 dental hygienists qualify each year. It’s not nearly enough.”
Both UCC and Trinity dental schools offer a two-year Diploma in Dental Hygiene which entitles the holder to register with the Irish Dental Council and practice as a dental hygienist. The qualification is also recognised throughout Europe.
Dental nurse is another in-demand role, according to Flannery.
“This is another very important job. Apart from their work with patients, dental nurses have to understand how all the equipment works and carry out regular tests to make sure it is happening. You don’t need a qualification for the role but you should really get training.”
That training is available through the 16 month part-time National Dental Nurse Training Programme of Ireland is a joint initiative between the Dublin Dental University Hospital and Cork University Dental School and Hospital. Training programmes are available from Marino Institute and a number of Institutes of Technology.
Other roles in high demand include practice managers and dental technicians.