Vol. 400 No. 6
46 Mr. Ryan asked the Minister for Health if he will outline, in relation to the provision by the dental clinic of treatment for school children in Balbriggan, County Dublin (a) the number of dental surgeons attending (b) the frequency of clinics (c) the average waiting period for treatment (d) the number on the waiting list for orthodontic treatment and (e) the condition of the equipment, given that appointments had to be postponed in recent weeks by reason of same.
Normally four three-hour sessions are carried out each week in the dental clinic at Balbriggan. However at present the sessions have been curtailed to two per week due to sick leave. The Eastern Health Board is recruiting a further dental surgeon to the community care area which includes Balbriggan and intends to increase the number of sessions provided to eight per week. In addition, the principal dental surgeon provides one session of orthodontic treatment every month.
The average waiting time for a course of routine dental treatment is 12 months but emergency treatment is available to persons who are in pain.
There are 188 persons on the orthodontic waiting list at present.
An item of equipment was out of order but the problem has now been rectified. All equipment is checked regularly.
