Galway Bay fm newsroom - Public health dental screenings for primary school children across Galway dropped by 87% in 2020.
Figures released by the HSE to Sinn Fein Dublin Mid-West TD Mark Ward, show just 531 screenings were carried in the city and county last year - that's down from 4,317 in 2019.
Nationwide dental screenings dropped by 63% on average, while the CHO2 area which covers counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon was one of the worst effected with an average drop of 76%.
Roscommon/Galway TD Claire Kerrane is calling on the HSE to develop contingency plans to provide dental screening for children in primary school.
She argues that prior to COVID-19 the Irish Dental Association stated an increasing number of children were only being offered examination and dental care for the first time at sixth class and this situation has been exasperated by the impact of the pandemic.
The HSE has confirmed that many dental staff have been redeployed to testing and tracing as part of the COVID-19 response but that elective dental services have been gradually resuming.
Deputy Kerrane says the HSE could have hired applicants from the "Be on Call for Ireland" campaign as contact tracers instead....
