Over 1,300 children waiting for dental extractions in the Shannonside region according to the Irish Dental Association.
The school dental programme aims to offer three appointments before the age of 12, but fewer than half of children entitled to dental screening are being seen on time.
The Irish Dental Association says there aren't enough dentists to meet demand.
Speaking to the Joe Finnegan show, Dr Will Rymer from the IDA says waiting lists are growing and growing:
'The area of listenership for Shannonside for example, you've got 1,349 children and children with special care requirements waiting on a list for general anesthetic for extractions.
That's going to grow further without adequate funding and support for public dentists in the HSE.
Those public dentists are massively overworked, recently the Government were pleased to announce that they had provided an extra five million euro in funding to help clear that backlog, but it's a drop in the ocean.
They are not hiring any additional dentists to deal with that back log.'
