Cuts to PRSI and medical card schemes have led to a drop in people using services, writes JOANNE HUNT
THE IRISH DENTAL Association is calling for any revenue from a proposed “sugar tax” to be put towards dental care.
New figures reveal that since cuts to the medical card and PRSI dental benefits last year, the number of medical cardholders seeking dental treatment has fallen dramatically.
Comparing figures from 2009 with the first eight months of this year, the association says the number of fillings provided to medical cardholders has dropped 63 per cent, denture treatments have fallen 57 per cent and extractions are down 30 per cent.
The association says oral examinations – which can detect mouth cancer – have declined by almost a third. It says the funding cut of 27 per cent for the scheme has effectively reduced benefits to limited emergency cover only, at a time when the number of medical cardholders has increased by 20 per cent.
Meanwhile, a reduction in cover for PRSI holders, who before January 1st last year were eligible for free and subsidised treatments, means they are no longer entitled to a free biannual clean and polish or reduced rates for extractions and fillings.
Dentists say that, though taxpayers are paying the same amount of PRSI, the sole benefit to them remaining under the revised dental scheme is one annual examination.
The chief executive of the dental association, Fintan Hourihan, said both schemes had served the country extremely well and had led to a huge improvement in the dental health of the nation.
“These schemes provided the foundations of a progressive dental-health policy and they need to be restored and fully funded as a matter of urgency,” he said
“The medical card scheme is now restricted solely to emergency care, pain management and extractions. All along we have said an ounce of prevention costs less than a pound of cure, and the public will suffer if we do not take action now.”
The IDA says the any revenues raised from a new sugar tax on sugar-sweetened drinks being considered by the Department of Health should be devoted to restoring the dental schemes.