Vol. 482 No. 4
91 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason health boards are informing the public that they cannot obtain dentures on their medical cards unless they are under 35 or over 60 years of age; and if he will give details of the conditions set out by his Department for the scheme. [18321/97]
Under the dental treatment services scheme which was introduced by my Department on 1 November 1994, dental treatment will be extended to all adults with medical card eligibility on a phased basis.
Under phases 1 and 2 of the scheme, which are currently in operation, routine dental treatment has been extended to adults in the 16-34 age group and to adults aged 65 years and over. Routine dental treatment includes the provision of dentures to adults retaining some natural teeth.
Full denture treatment has been extended to all edentulous (no natural teeth) adults. The rate of edentulousness among medical card holders is high and this group was identified as a priority group in the initial phases of the scheme. I will extend routine dental treatment to the 35-64 age group as additional resources become available.
