Vol. 566 No. 1
409 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Health and Children the details of the changes which have been made in the guidelines for provision of orthodontic treatment by health boards; the reason for such changes and their anticipated effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11385/03]
As the Deputy is aware, statutory responsibility for the provision of orthodontic treatment to eligible persons rests with the health boards in the first instance. Entitlement to orthodontic treatment is determined by reference to orthodontic guidelines, a set of objective clinical criteria applied by health board orthodontists when assessing children's priority of need for treatment. The orthodontic guidelines were issued by my Department in 1985 and are still in use. The orthodontic guidelines are used to ensure that orthodontic resources are prioritised for and applied equitably to the most severe cases. When a health board orthodontist decides that a child is in clinical need of orthodontic treatment in accordance with the criteria, he or she is then placed on a treatment waiting list.
The guidelines are intended to enable health boards to identify in a consistent way those in greatest need and to commence timely treatment for them. The number of cases treated is dependent on the level of resources available, in terms of qualified staff, in the area and this is reflected in the treatment waiting list. In fact, the provision of orthodontic services is currently severely restricted due to the limited availability of trained specialist clinical staff to assess and treat patients. Consequently, a category C waiting list may not be maintained in some health boards.
I have taken a number of measures to address this shortage. The grade of specialist in orthodontics has been created in the health board orthodontic service. This year, my Department and the health boards are funding 13 dentists from various health boards for specialist in orthodontics qualifications in training programmes in Ireland and at two separate universities in the United Kingdom. These trainees for the public orthodontic service are additional to the six dentists who commenced their training last year and one dentist whose specialist training is nearing completion. Thus there is an aggregate of 20 public service dentists currently in training for specialist in orthodontics qualifications. These measures will complement the other structural changes being introduced into the orthodontic service, including the creation of an auxiliary grade of orthodontic therapist to work in the orthodontic area.
