asked the Minister for Health the date on which orthodontic services for children in the Dublin region ceased; the total number of children awaiting assessment at present; and when the service will be resumed.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Orthodontic Services.
10.
I am informed by the Eastern Health Board that orthodontic services for children in the Dublin region did not cease. They continued to be provided for those who were receiving active treatment but, from February of this year, the health board deferred commencing treatment for new cases requiring corrective appliances. Since the beginning of October the provision of treatment has been resumed.
The need for orthodontic treatment normally emerges at school dental examination and treatment services and assessment of the need is therefore a continuing process.
Has the Minister any information of the numbers awaiting assessment and treatment?
That information should have been included in the reply. The number of children awaiting assessment is 2,500, while the number being treated is 1,500.
Can the Minister indicate when those 2,500 will have the service available to them?
I cannot answer that specifically but the emphasis is on the basic dental services. I am not saying that orthodontic treatment is unnecessary. It is very necessary in respect of some children; but until such time as the basic dental services are improved I do not think it will be possible to make any substantial improvement in the orthodontic services.
Therefore the Minister is saying that 2,500 children who have been assessed as being in need of orthodontic treatment must continue to bear the disfigurements or impediments from which they are suffering.
In so far as the impediments are concerned there would be priority in respect of those cases in which there is an interference with general health because of crooked teeth, the non-alignment of teeth or the fact that a child has too many teeth.
The Minister is aware that only children attending national schools are entitled to the service but would he be prepared to change this regulation in order to provide that children who had left the national school could avail of the service?
The Deputy is raising another matter.
Children who are being treated while attending national schools can continue to have the treatment after they have gone on to secondary school.
If the staff and the facilities necessary for the carrying out of this service are not available at present, would the Minister be prepared to say that when the situation improves those children who have been assessed as being in need of orthodontic treatment will be given the same opportunities as they would have been given in normal circumstances? This is a valid point on behalf of those children.
It is a valid point, but I am afraid I could not give any definite commitment in that regard. The basic dental services are provided for all those who need them within the category defined.
Would the Minister agree that it is only possible for children to receive treatment at the various health centres if they have been assessed during free checks at school?
I do not get the Deputy's point.
It is simple. By way of explanation to the Minister, if a parent wishes a child to obtain treatment at a health centre, the treatment cannot be provided unless the health centre has already received an assessment card from the child's school. Is the Minister aware of that situation?
Yes.
Are there available a sufficient number of orthodontists to provide the service or are the checks at school carried out sufficiently frequently to ensure that the problems are detected while the children are still at primary school and are, consequently, eligible for the service at the health centres?
Is the Minister telling us that a child cannot avail of the treatment unless he has been referred by way of the school medical services?
That is the normal course.
Is there no provision for treatment for those children who may be referred by family doctors in cases where families are medical card holders?
They would still have to be referred through an orthodontist.
In other words, they would have to go through the school medical scheme?
That is the position so far as I am aware.
That situation should be examined.
Question No. 11.
(Interruptions.)
We have had a long series of questions and I am going on to deal with the next question.
I am waiting for a reply.
The Chair has no control over such matters.
Would the Minister not agree that the proper stage at which orthodontic treatment should be provided is before a child begins school? It is a grave defect in the administration of the service that the situation is as the Minister says. Therefore he should have it examined.
I have not had a reply.
I will allow a final supplementary from Deputy Power.
Am I to understand that this orthodontic treatment tapered off during the holiday season? Should not a directive be issued to those concerned urging them to endeavour to deal with as many cases as possible during the holiday period so as to avoid interrupting schooling afterwards?
No new applications were received during that period but the service was resumed fully in October.