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Irish Times
17-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Fixing problems after dental treatment in Turkey can cost Irish patients €40,000, says Irish Dental Association
Irish patients who had their teeth done in Turkey are spending up to €40,000 on remedial procedures due to gum infection or poor quality of care, the Irish Dental Association has said. Over the past decade there has been an increase in the number of people travelling abroad for cosmetic dentistry, with Turkey being a particularly popular destination, primarily due to cost. Recent figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the cost of dentistry increased by 20 per cent in the five years from February 2020 to February last. Various dentist websites state the cost of a crown in Ireland is between €600 and €850 per tooth, while patients can get crowns for as little as €150 in Turkey. READ MORE Dr Rory Boyd, who served as president of the Irish Dental Association until the end of his term earlier this month and is a specialist in reconstructive dentistry, said there are many good dental practitioners in Turkey and elsewhere, but he 'only sees the failures'. 'The most common issue we see is overtreatment. Usually from Turkey, people come in with 10 crowns on top and 10 crowns on the bottom. There was one patient who needed only three crowns and whitening, but came back with 20 crowns from abroad,' he said. 'And a lot of the time those crowns are bonded together, meaning you can't floss in between them. This can lead to gum infection and pain.' When this occurs, Dr Boyd said, they are required to remove the crowns, stabilise the infections and teeth and then reapply new crowns. He said he would see on average six people a month with these issues. 'The treatment takes about six months. They come into us every three weeks or so, with multiple sessions where you're spending around three hours in the dental chair,' he said. 'For removal, treatment and replacement, it can cost up to €40,000, and that's not including the cost of what you paid for the initial treatment abroad.' According to Dr Boyd, the treatment abroad is generally for cosmetic purposes rather than treating an oral healthcare issue. 'Teeth structures should be seen as a sacred structure. Even with perfect application, there is no way they'll all last to the end of life. And crowns will need lifetime care,' he added. Dr Boyd was speaking in advance of the IDA's annual conference in Kilkenny on Saturday, where participants will discuss proposed reforms as well as links to gut health, and topics such as Botox and aesthetic procedures. Dr Mairead Browne, a general dentist and aesthetic practitioner in Cork, will highlight problems around the lack of regulation for aesthetic procedures such as filler. 'In terms of dermal filler, there are 200 products on the market that are not CE-marked. There is a patient safety risk here, because filler can lead to blindness if not inserted properly. Skin can become necrotic, which is where the skin dies off,' she said. [ 'Life-altering side effects': when medical and cosmetic treatments abroad go wrong Opens in new window ] Dr Browne highlighted that because filler is unregulated, unqualified people can administer it. However, only medical practitioners such as doctors and dentists are able to reverse it. 'As a result, people are having severe non-reversible side effects,' she added.
Irish Examiner
16-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Register of approved practitioners offering botox and fillers to be established
Dentists and doctors working with botox and fillers are so worried about illegal use of these products they have set up a college to regulate the industry. The Irish College of Aesthetic Medicine (ICAM) will offer the public a register of approved practitioners. This is much needed, according to Dr Paul Kielty, a specialist oral surgeon and medical doctor. He described 'scary' botched treatment he has seen in patients asking him for help to repair damaged skin. 'There was one girl who had a voucher for her wedding, for €1,000 for some cheap clinic. They did botox and about 10mls of filler. They destroyed her, God love her,' he said. 'She came in bawling crying the week before her wedding. I basically dissolved it all out and got her back to baseline. "It is all you could do in that timeframe.' He added: "I've had one or two people who had work done abroad and I've tried to dissolve it and it hasn't dissolved." He added that it "can be a nightmare". Dentists are, for example, are aware of the potential to damage smile muscles while injecting botulinum toxin near the mouth. 'If you don't understand the anatomy, you don't understand the risks,' he told the Irish Dental Association conference in Kilkenny. Dentists are frustrated at the lack of regulation which allows anyone to offer these products with little training. Dr Kielty, of Cork Medical Aesthetics in Midleton, said: 'We're trying to push for regulation. 'At the moment, it's doctors, dentists, and people who are well-established in the profession. "We're hoping to register with the College of Physicians or College of Surgeons as an actual medical or dental speciality.' He explained: 'In time there would be exams so you can't just start practicing. You will have to be able to prove you're at a certain standard. We're a little way off that at the moment but that's the end goal.' He was shocked recently to see websites offering syringes of filler for as little as €11 each. 'God knows what it's made of or what sanitary conditions it was made in. There's no CE mark,' he said. 'A proper syringe of filler I would buy from a pharmacy would cost somewhere between €80 and €100 for the same thing.' Last year, 1,709 units of fake or illegal products claiming to contain botulinum toxin were seized by the Health Products Regulatory Authority in Ireland compared to 26 in 2020.
Irish Examiner
15-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Dentists warn of 'clear divide' between people accessing private dentistry and those in public care
There is now 'a clear divide' between people who can afford private dentistry and those facing delays in public care, the Irish Dental Association (IDA) has warned. Children and adults with disabilities waiting for care under general anesthesia face delays of two years or more, including in areas across Munster. Dental screening in schools was also missed by almost half the children eligible due to a critical shortage of dentists. Dentists say that scheme for adult medical card holders has 'effectively collapsed": the scheme is down 800 dentists compared to 2012 despite the population of Ireland surging by 15% since then. The two dental schools in Cork and Dublin are also not producing enough graduates to fill staffing gaps. The demand for more dentists is such that over 1,000 applications for 20 places were received by a new dental school opening in Dublin this year, according to IDA chief executive Fintan Hourihan. "There's a clear divide between people who have the option of going privately and people who would otherwise rely on State-funded assistance to see private dentists," Mr Hourihan said. Funding cuts A key issue is the under-funding of services since the recession years, he added. The IDA pointed to a cut in State spending on dental care for PRSI and medical card patients amounting to €800m between 2009 and 2023. 'There's been a downward trend in funding,' he said. 'And with the medical card in particular, it's becoming harder for patients to see a dentist — they have to wait longer, travel further.' Dentistry has 'never gone back to the spending levels that were there in 2009', he added. In 2023, 104,000 school children missed out on school dentistry checks where problems can be picked up early. Earlier this year, the Irish Examiner highlighted a crisis in access to general anaesthesia for children and adults with disabilities. Mr Hourihan said there has been no changes despite efforts by the HSE to boost services. One barrier is a shortage of consultant anaesthetists. 'The west of Ireland is probably one of the best for this, and they have a two-year waiting list,' he said. "In the east and in the south I believe it is considerably in excess of three years, the last time I checked. These are very vulnerable children and adults," he added. IDA president Will Rymer called for the state's new oral health policy — Smile agus Sláinte — to be backed by funding. The three-year oral health implementation plan is included in the Programme for Government. 'We are calling on the Government to fully fund oral health services in order to make up for a lost decade in dental care, representing a running deficit of €800m in investment,' he said. 'The failure of consecutive Governments to fully fund oral healthcare services has only increased the outstanding burden of treatment needed across the country.' Dentists want to see a system which values prevention as much as treatment, he urged, adding this needs to be accessible to everyone. 'Under the current system, there is a widening gap between those who can afford to access dentistry by private means and those who are left at the mercy of a public system which is underfunded and not fit for purpose,' he warned.
RTÉ News
15-05-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
State dental schemes see cuts of €800m since 2009
The Irish Dental Association (IDA) has said that State dental schemes have seen effective cuts of €800m since 2009. Its annual conference in Kilkenny heard that there is a widening gap between those who can and can not afford dental care. The association is seeking an overhaul of dental care for PRSI and medical card patients. Fintan Hourihan, IDA chief executive, said that a failure to keep spending at 2009 levels has meant a real cut in spending of over €800m between 2009 and 2023 amounting to a lost decade in oral care. He said that the poorest and most vulnerable have suffered the most and that a major investment is needed for the two State dental schemes, if lost ground is to be made up. Mr Hourihan said there has also been a significant hollowing out of public dental services, evidenced by the 104,000 school children denied dental screening appointments in 2023, due mainly to a shortage of public-only dentists. The HSE said that while the HSE's community dental service has been impacted by capacity challenges in recent years, it provided 106,964 targeted assessments to patients last year. It added that this year's National Service Plan provides for 15 additional clinical positions. The HSE said current access to free dental care for children is provided by the HSE Community Dental Service from within available resources, specifically an oral examination and necessary treatment for children at ages approximating to second and sixth class. In some cases, fourth class with emergency care is provided for children of all ages up to 16. A new three year oral health implementation plan for the national oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte, is expected to be launched soon, as promised in the Programme for Government. The HSE said this includes reform of services for medical card holders and for children among the priority actions.
