Almost 70% of dentists have seen a decline in the number of patients they are treating, a new survey has shown.

According to the findings, 35% of dentists say the number of patients they are treating has fallen a lot, while 33% have seen a moderate decline in numbers.

The fall in the number of patients comes despite almost half of the dentists surveyed stating that they had reduced their fees for some of the most common treatments, such as examinations, fillings and extractions.

This reduction in fees, along with falling patient numbers, has, not surprisingly, led to a decline in dentists’ income. Almost three in four dentists surveyed said their income has fallen by 25%.

The survey noted that most dentists do not see this situation improving and have a pessimistic view of the future. Altogether, 70% of respondents said they expect to see their income decrease further in the next 12 months.

According to Fintan Hourihan, chief executive of the Irish Dental Association (IDA), the findings highlight the impact on patients of the recent and planned cutbacks to the medical card and PRSI dental schemes.

“Recently we warned about the impact these cutbacks would have on patients and this survey shows that this is now happening on the ground with more and more people neglecting their dental health.

“We are calling on the Government to reverse cutbacks to the PRSI scheme and to provide sufficient funding for the medical card scheme in order to protect the dental health of the most vulnerable members of our society,” Mr Hourihan said.

He also highlighted the difficult situation many dentists now find themselves in.

“Three out of four dentists have seen a 25% decline in their income and younger dentists who have invested heavily in surgeries in recent years have been hit particularly hard. Here in the IDA we have been inundated with queries from dentists about reduced working hours for staff, temporary layoffs and redundancies as they strive to stay in business,” he explained.

He added that there is ‘no doubt that the sector will see further job losses’. The issue is due to be discussed in detail at the IDA’s upcoming conference in Galway in mid-May.