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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 9 Oct 2003

Vol. 572 No. 2

Written Answers. - Orthodontic Service.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

163 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the extent to which children in need of orthodontic treatment have received such treatment in the past 12 months; the number of children who have been removed from the list through reclassification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22761/03]

As the Deputy is aware, the provision of orthodontic treatment to eligible persons is the responsibility of the health boards-authority in the first instance.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that I have taken a number of measures to improve orthodontic services on a national basis.

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 thirteen dentists from various health boards for specialist in orthodontics qualifications at training programmes in Ireland and at three separate universities in the United Kingdom. These 13 trainees for the public orthodontic service are additional to the six dentists who commenced their training in 2001. Thus there is an aggregate of 19 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.

Orthodontic Initiative funding of €4.698 million was provided to the health boards-authority in 2001 and this has enabled health boards to recruit additional staff, engage the services of private specialist orthodontic practitioners to treat patients and build additional orthodontic facilities.

In June 2002, my Department provided additional funding of €5 million from the treatment purchase fund to health boards specifically for the purchase of orthodontic treatment. This funding is enabling boards to provide both additional sessions for existing staff and purchase treatment from private specialist orthodontic practitioners.

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. The number of children who do not come within health board guidelines is not available. However, the broad range of measures that I have outlined, is already impacting and will continue to impact positively on the availability of trained clinical staff in this area.

The chief executive officers of the health boards-authority have informed me that at the end of the June quarter 2003, there were 20,650 children receiving orthodontic treatment in the public orthodontic service. This means that there are over twice as many children getting orthodontic treatment as there are children waiting to be treated and over 3,000 extra children are getting treatment from health boards since the end of 2001.

Question No. 164 answered with Question No. 67.

Question No. 165 answered with Question No. 68.

Questions Nos. 166 and 167 answered with Question No. 149.

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