Public system needs more dentists trained to work with children with special needs – Carrigy

Families should not have to go private to access dentists who are properly trained to work with children with special needs, A Fine Gael Senator has said.

Speaking in the Seanad this week, Senator Micheál Carrigy said: “For many families living in Ireland today, the simple act of a routine dental appointment is an overwhelming challenge. Particularly for those on the autism spectrum sensory overload from the lights and sounds can be extremely stressful.

Senator Carrigy said: “In Ireland today there are many dental teams who are trained in how to treat children with autism and other needs and will adapt the experience to ensure a comfortable visit for both the child and their carer. However there are very few working within the public system.

“I recently met with the parent of a nine-year old child who required a dental visit. They initially went through the public system but unfortunately found that there were no dentists available with the training needed to treat someone with special needs. Faced with these limited circumstances, they were forced to go private. In the end, with all necessary treatment added, their bill exceeded 3000 euro.

“The parents of children with autism already face significant costs for many treatments not currently provided under the public system. This is yet another hurdle for them trying to access the care their children need.

“I am calling for this to be rectified. We need to start actively recruiting dentists into the HSE who have this specialised training so that families of kids on the autism spectrum are not at risk of paying even more for basic health care for their children.

“I am aware that this problem can’t be fixed overnight. In meantime the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) could be expanded to adequately compensate parents who have to go privately to access dental.

“The NTPF is being successfully used for other many other operations such as managing hospital waiting lists, setting nursing home pricing. To me it is very clear that we need to put funding in place and expand the scheme. I have now called on many occasions for the funding to be put in place and the scheme to be expanded to cover costs associated with assessment of needs, occupation therapy, speech and language services.

“I firmly believe that these steps will be vital to substantially easing the financial burden on the families of children with special needs,” concluded Senator Carrigy.