Ireland’s new oral health plan may be the last opportunity to fix dental crisis
DUBLIN: Ireland’s long-standing dental care crisis has again come under scrutiny as the Irish government prepares to roll out its long-delayed national oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte. Experts warn that this could be the country’s last real opportunity to rebuild a struggling system and restore access to affordable dental care — especially for children and low-income families.
The warning comes from Fintan Hourihan, CEO of the Irish Dental Association (IDA), who wrote that the upcoming three-year oral health implementation plan by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill must learn from past mistakes. According to the IDA, the 2019 strategy was launched without meaningful consultation with dental professionals, leaving critical issues unaddressed.
Severe access and funding crisis
Data from the IDA reveals that over 104,000 children in Ireland miss out on basic dental check-ups each year, mainly due to capacity shortages and underfunding. Between 2009 and 2023, Ireland’s dental spending for PRSI and medical card patients fell by nearly €800 million, resulting in what Hourihan calls a “lost decade” for public oral health.
With staffing shortages and the lack of paediatric specialists, most public clinics are overwhelmed. Hourihan cautioned that 90% of private dentists would not participate in the new state-funded children’s care scheme due to limited capacity — signalling that private clinics cannot be a substitute for an under-resourced public system.
Reforms and prevention-focused care
The Irish Dental Association has proposed a prevention-first model that focuses on early interventions and tax reform. Their recommendations include expanding the Med 2 tax relief scheme to cover preventive and rehabilitative treatments such as fillings and dentures. According to the IDA, this would encourage timely care, reduce long-term costs, and help prevent chronic diseases linked to poor oral health, including heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory problems.
Public health implications
Oral health is an integral part of overall health, but Hourihan argues that it continues to be treated as a luxury in Ireland’s healthcare system. He emphasized that ignoring oral health leads to higher national healthcare costs and worsening chronic disease outcomes — problems that could have been prevented with sustained investment in public dental services.
Despite several record health budgets, Ireland’s oral healthcare promises under the Programme for Government remain largely unfulfilled. The IDA calls for urgent recruitment of public dentists, expansion of school dental programs, and genuine engagement between policymakers and dental professionals.
Call for collaboration
Hourihan concluded that Ireland stands “at a turning point.” He urged the government to engage directly with the dental profession to create a fair, sustainable system that provides accessible, quality care for all. The association insists that reforms must deliver value for both patients and taxpayers — ensuring that oral health is treated as a right, not a privilege.
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