Ireland facing dentist shortage as training places stagnate for nearly 30 years
The number of college training places for dentists has remained the same for almost three decades despite a major recruitment crisis and severe backlogs in parts of the country.
That is according to Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Colm Burke, who has called for increased college places.
Each year, there is huge interest in studying dentistry, with college course entry determined by exceptionally high CAO points.
However, despite major increases in the population, the number of dental school places has failed to increase significantly.
International students from outside of the EU also make up a high percentage of those studying dentistry here.
In the Dáil, Mr Burke said there were 1,432 dentists offering to provide dental care under the public scheme in 2012.
By 2024, this had fallen to 810.
"Going back 30 or 40 years, most older people tended to have dentures. That has now totally changed so there are now more older people who require dental treatment as well."
The Department of Health has acknowledged that there are 2,420 dentists in the country, Mr Burke said.
"That is 47 dentists per 100,000 people or one dentist per 2,125 people."
'We need to forward plan,' he added.
Even if, in the morning, we decided to increase the number of places, it would still take five years before the students would be out there.
In University College Cork, there are currently 61 final year students of which 36 are non-EU students, he said.
At Trinity College Dublin, there are 46 final year students, of which 21 are non-EU students.
He added: "We need to decrease the number of non-EU students and increase the number of Irish and other EU students.
'We do not have to put extra money into it, except to replace the money the colleges are getting from non-EU students with money from the department so we can improve and increase the number of training places available.'
The Irish Dental Association has suggested to decrease the number of non-EU students to 20%, he added.
'It did not say to cut them out completely, but to reduce the number.
'We were to build a new dental school in Cork, we had identified a site, we got the planning permission, funding was not available, and the whole project was abandoned.
"Now we are in a scenario where we have population growth, people are living longer, and we do not have the dentists to look after them.'
In response, minister of State Marian Harkin said approximately 60 places were available each year to students on dentistry courses until this year.
"The department recognises that this represents a limited training pipeline at a time when the demand for oral healthcare, both clinical and preventative, is increasing nationally."
The number of places offered is a matter for the higher education institutions, she added.
However, due to a high level of practical work, there can be constraints on the number of students that can be accepted onto dentistry courses, she said.
The Department of Health is conducting a scoping exercise to support a skills assessment across the oral healthcare sector.
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