A Thurles dentist says that time constraints and financial concerns have prompted dentists to stop taking on medical card holders as clients.
Almost 70,000 children are waiting to be called to school dentists following the suspension of services during the pandemic.
Aidan Burke told Tipp Today that the reason for many dentists’ pulling back from the dental treatment services scheme was due to finances just ‘breaking even’, which is adding to the issue.
“A lot of dentists have pulled out of the medical card system. Unfortunately, the finances, it just wasn’t really making sense to do it. With the medical card, you don’t make any money on it. It might just break even for you. I can see why people have pulled out of it. That’s not going to work out long term, you know, in any business. ”
Meanwhile Aidan Burke believes that an uptake of Ukrainian dentists in Ireland could help relieve dental waiting lists.
Ukrainian dentists trying to register with the Irish dental system may encounter issues or time delays as they are not members of the EU.
Aidan believes there could be a capacity for extra dentists in the next year, which would help with the long waiting lists.
“I’ve come across a couple of Ukrainian dentists who are trying to register with the Irish dental system. Because they’re non-EU, it’s quite hard for them to register, and it’s taking a bit of time. I’m sure the dental council are doing their best to get them registered, but there could be a capacity for extra dentists in the next year or so.”
