At the end of December at the Dublin north-east regional health forum a motion was put forward on children's dental health. The motion called on the HSE to make available sufficient funding to ensure all primary schoolchildren would receive a minimum dental service in second and sixth classes and, ideally, in fourth class also. It came as a result of the problem posed by tooth decay in children. Tooth decay is a major oral health problem in most industrialised countries, affecting 60% to 90% of all children. It remains the most common chronic disease in children aged six to 11 years and adolescents aged 12 to 19 years. It is four times more common than asthma among adolescents aged 14 to 17 years. Cavities, even in children who do not yet have permanent teeth, can have serious and lasting complications such as pain, tooth abscesses, tooth loss, broken teeth, chewing problems and serious infections. My party colleague, Dr. Claire O'Driscoll, has said that, realistically, once children start to get teeth they should be seen annually by a dental professional. Given that almost one in three young children drinks sugary and sweetened drinks every day and that 411 million litres of sugary sweetened drinks were sold in Ireland in 2014, it is clear that the need for dental professionals is only going to increase. According to the chief executive of the Irish Dental Association, Mr. Fintan Hourihan, the population of children under the age of 16 years in Ireland has increased by 20% in the past decade to 1.1 million. However, the number of dentists tasked with looking after these young people has fallen by 20% in recent years owing to the recruitment embargo. The result is that a large number of primary schoolchildren are missing out on screening in school and their dental problems are not being identified in the early stages. This can have knock-on effects in emergency cases in later life. As in the case of so many preventable diseases, these problems are a strain on the embattled health service. Irregular access to dental care results in higher use of emergency services. We all know that we need to make smarter use of the health service. We need to use preventive measures. We need to stop the problems before they really start. This is a prime example of where we can do that.