Dentists have called on the Government to restore subsidised scaling and polishing to the PRSI scheme and to increase funding for dental care for medical card patients.

Subsidised dental care under PRSI was removed in January 2010 and currently those paying PRSI only receive a subsidised annual oral examination. They must now pay the full rate for other treatments such as fillings, extractions and scaling and polishing.

In addition, the medical card dental scheme was cut back two years ago and currently only covers emergency dental treatment.

The Irish Dental Association (IDA) says the removal of State cover for many dental treatments has led to patients leaving tooth decay and gum disease untreated.

IDA Chief Executive Fintan Hourihan told irishhealth.com that the recent cutbacks could end up costing the State more in the long-term, apart form their obvious effects on the future dental health of the nation.

"For example, medical card patients are only covered for two fillings per year deemed to be emergency treatment, but if they require further work it would have to be postponed as it would not be covered. The patient may return in pain in 18 months later requiring further emergency treatment which could end up costing the State more."

Mr Hourihan said similarly, PRSI patients who can no longer afford to pay the full rate for treatments were postponing care, to the detriment of their dental health.

The IDA says patients and the State can expect to pay up to 10 times the cost of preventive treatments where dental health is neglected.

It says patients are now presenting with increasingly complex dental problems because they have been denied basic preventive dental care over the past two years.

The IDA has called on the Government to restore subsidised scaling and polishing to the PRSI scheme and to increase spending on the medical card dental scheme by €80 million next year.

The Associaiton says the recession, coupled with the loss in earnings from State schemes, has hit dentistry hard in recent years.

Mr Hourihan said it was estimated that around 1,000 staff had been let go from dental practices in the past 12 to 18 months and many young associate dentists were emigrating.

He said a number of dental practices, reckoned to be in double figures, had closed down.

A survey carried out by the IDA last year showed that 97% of its members had either reduced or frozen their private fees.

Since June, dentists have been obliged to display their fee rates in noticies in their surgeries.