Thousands of local children still waiting for school dental exams

A staggering 3,682 children across counties Cavan and Monaghan are waiting for the routine school dental examination they were due to receive before leaving primary education, according to new figures released by the HSE.

The figures, supplied by the Health Service Executive in response to a Parliamentary Question by Sinn Féin TD Cathy Bennett, acknowledge the backlog.

“The Dental Service has operated with a significant shortfall of dental resources for several years,” the official response stated. Over the past four years, the strain has been compounded by what it described as “a significant proportion of staff on maternity leave”, with three dentists and one dental nurse currently absent says an explanation authored by Su-zann O'Callaghan, Interim Head of Primary Care Services in Cavan-Monaghan.

Every child is eligible for oral healthcare up to the eve of their 16th birthday. However, at present in Cavan and Monaghan, the programme is currently targeting children who were in sixth class during the 2024/2025 school year - pupils now in secondary school.

In Cavan, 406 children from 2024/2025 are still awaiting examination, while more than three times that number (1,344) from 2025/2026 have yet to be seen.

In Monaghan, 568 children from the 2024/2025 sixth class cohort remain on waiting lists, along with a further 764 from 2025/2026.

Ms O'Callaghan's response notes: “Emergencies, special care patients and other vulnerable groups… are competing priorities for the current limited resources.”

Regardless, senior management within the HSE have conceded that the situation cannot continue, and additional development posts have been approved.

Some Monaghan schools have even been realigned to the Cootehill area in Cavan in an effort to redistribute workloads. These measures, the HSE confirm, “have already impacted the waiting lists.”

Nationally, “recruitment and retention” of dentists remains “extremely challenging”, Ms O'Callaghan admits, with training numbers not meeting demand.

However, all but two Dental Surgeon posts in the region have now been filled - with offers made to candidates pending work permits.

“The HSE Cavan Monaghan Dental Services remain fully committed to providing oral health care to all eligible patients,” the statement concludes, while cautioning that services “must be delivered within the limits of available resources and funding”.