Recent cutbacks in dental services are having a devastating impact on patients and will cost the State more in the long run, the Irish Dental Association (IDA) has claimed.

Last year, medical card holders had cover for non-emergency dental care removed. According to the IDA, this means that dentists ‘are left in the invidious situation where they diagnose disease but cannot treat it'.

Meanwhile, the PRSI dental benefit scheme was reduced to only cover the cost of an annual check-up. This means that subsidies for other treatments, such as fillings and extractions, have been removed despite the fact that people who use this scheme are paying increased social insurance charges.

Launching its dental health manifesto for the forthcoming election, the IDA called on all political parties to let people know what plans they have in relation to dental services.

"We are urging the new government to examine the cuts to dental services made in recent times and consider their reinstatement," said IDA chief executive, Fintan Hourihan.

The association's manifesto highlights four specific crisis areas:

-The stopping of all treatment (except the annual oral examination) under the PRSI dental scheme
-The restriction of treatment under the medical card dental scheme to emergency dental care
-The closure of clinics, the non-screening of children and long delays for patients due to the non-filling of critical vacancies in the public dental service
-The failure to fill the vacant chief dental officer post. There has been no dental adviser in the Department of Health for almost a decade and no new oral health policy has been published since 1994.

"Two million PRSI workers are being denied their entitlement to treatment despite paying increased social insurance charges and 1.2 million medical card holders are not receiving the treatment they need, beyond emergency treatment, because of cutbacks to the medical card dental scheme.

"The cutback in the medical card dental scheme is particularly worrying because medical card holders generally have a poorer level of oral health," Mr Hourihan said.

The IDA pointed out that 340,000 medical card holders were treated in 2009 with 1.5 million treatments provided under the scheme. For older patients, the scheme provided dentures. These are now only allowed in what the HSE refers to as ‘emergency circumstances'.

Meanwhile, in 2009, 730,000 people visited their dentist under the PRSI dental scheme and availed of 1.3 million treatment items. Up to the end of October 2010, there was a 45% reduction in the number of people claiming under this scheme and a drop of 700,000 in the number of treatment items provided.

"We are only all too aware of the severe financial plight facing the country and the government. However, the extent of these cuts does not make economic sense. In dentistry, every small problem will only get worse if left unattended, requiring more complex treatment later which is more expensive. A cost benefit analysis of the PRSI scheme carried out in 2009 found that its benefit to the state was over twice the cost," Mr Hourihan explained.

The IDA is also calling for the appointment of a chief dental officer as a matter of priority and the exemption of the public dental service from the HSE's moratorium on recruitment.

The association is encouraging the public to raise these issues with general election candidates.

"Failure to look after your dental health can have a significant harmful effect on your general health. Make sure you know where your election candidates stand on these issues and urge them to reinstate the entitlements you had under the PSRI dental scheme or the medical card dental scheme," Mr Hourihan said.