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Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Accuracy in Dental Medicine, A New Way to Measure Trueness and Precision
Published on: April 29, 2014
Dentists in the DTSS between July 2007 and July 2008
1Kilbrin House, Wellington Road, Cork. lmnoslynch@eircom.net
Unlabelled:
Recent attention in the media concerning the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) centres on the number of contracting dentists as a surrogate measure of the availability of services to adult medical card holders in the Republic of Ireland.
Aim:
To determine the trend in the number of contracting dentists on the DTSS panel during the year 07/'07 to 07/'08.
Methods And Data:
Data were extracted from the database of monthly claims for remuneration, submitted by providers, which is held by the HSE.
Results:
The average number of contractors was 1,258. The trend over the year was a reduction of 1.6% in contractor numbers. The average number of 'active' contractors was 833. The trend over the year was a reduction in 'active' contractor numbers of 6.2%. In any month, approximately 34% of contracting dentists were not active.
Conclusions:
The trend in the number of contracting dentists was a poor indicator of the trend in availability of services to medical card holders. A better approach would be to count the number of 'active' contractors, in conjunction with their geographic spread and medical card holder density.
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