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The government's new oral health policy for children and adults is badly flawed, economically unfeasible and operationally unworkable, dentists said.
The Irish Dental Association has stated that it considers the new policy, launched by the ministers in April, as a starting point for a long-awaited debate on oral health, new state contracts and the new legislation.
More than 200 members of the association met Saturday in Dublin to discuss their reaction to the new policy.
Last month, Social Welfare Minister Regina Doherty and Health Minister Simon Harris launched a new plan entitled "Smile Agus Sláinte", which aimed to evolve the dental services of the province. a system of "diagnosis and treatment" towards a prevention system available locally.
Under government policy, all children under the age of 16 would receive eight sets of oral health care including examinations, assessments, counseling, prevention interventions, emergency care and referral, depending on the case. Oral health care packages would also be provided to medical card holders over the age of 16. Care sets would be provided in a primary care setting by oral health practitioners hired by the health care manager.
Change of attitude
The director of the association, Fintan Hourihan, said that this policy would require a fundamental change in the attitude of the state towards the dental profession alongside a new approach to the profession. promotion of oral health in the future.
"The emphasis on prevention and policy provisions to link oral health and general health through a common risk factor approach is positive. However, our members are telling us forcefully that there is simply no prospect that the current approach advocated to achieve these goals is working, "he said.
"The policy was to ensure that" free dental care "was extended to under six and finally to under 16 years. How is it going to happen? The ESRI research, on which the department seems to be supportive, assumes that private practice dentists treat children on the basis of insufficient adult treatment fees 10 years ago, before they were still reduced. This is a misleading and dangerously misleading notion. "
The association asserted that certain provisions regarding the care and treatment of adults with a medical card amounted to "little more than the repackaging of the meager treatments that people are currently entitled to".
"In fact, in some cases, he believes that patients with an adult medical card could end up with even fewer treatments than they currently can access," Hourihan said.
The association said that for the 60% of adults who did not have a medical card, the new policy did not provide any financial support to cover the costs of dental care beyond the very limited benefits of PRSI that covered an examination. annual and a contribution to cleaning.
High income groups
Mr Hourihan said that if oral health in Ireland improved, most gains were recorded by higher income groups.
"The gulf resulting from the state of oral health as a function of income is growing, a direct result of massive reductions in state support. To begin with, the current medical card system must be abolished and the fee reductions introduced as part of[Législationd'urgencefinancière[Fempidoitêtreinversé"[financialemergencylegislation[Fempimustbereversed"[législationd'urgencefinancière[Fempidoitêtreinversé”[financialemergencylegislation[Fempimustbereversed”
"Our members of the public service are extremely concerned about plans to transfer the delivery of dental care to children from the public service to private practice. Once again, we reaffirm our full and unequivocal support for our members in the public service. We are ready to vote our members for industrial action in defense of their employment rights and contractual rights if necessary, "Hourihan said.
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