PRIVATE dentists are facing such difficulties due to the shortage of dental anaesthetics in the private sector some have turned to the occupied areas to stock up on supplies. Others depend on trips abroad.
And worryingly there is a total lack of dental anaesthetic drugs for heart sufferers.
The was raised at the House Health Committee, where the President of the Cyprus Dental Association, Rodos Irodotou, informed deputies that currently 740 private dentists are in desperate situations due to the unavailability of dental anaesthetic.
“We have become beggars, one dentist borrowing from the other, so we can serve our patients,” said Irodotou, describing the system, which sees dentists turning to state pharmacies to acquire the drugs they need, as dysfunctional.
And the Pharmaceutical Services have been of no help either, he added. Upon discussing the matter with an official from the Services, Irodotou claimed to have had the following response: “We have got them (dental anaesthetics) at state pharmacies, you break your necks and come and buy them.”
The problem, he continued, began three years ago after the directive was issued, which forbids dentists from buying the specific drugs straight from traders, as they used to. Instead they are supplied by pharmacies.
At the moment, there is only one available type of medication – the most expensive one at £11.50 per packet, Irodotou pointed out. And there is a total shortage of dental drugs for patients who suffer from heart conditions. “We are risking the lives of our patients”, said the head of the Association.
The Association has met the Health Ministry and requested the restoration of the old system for direct supply from traders, which is what applies in other European countries.
Irodotou also mentioned the financial damages dentists have suffered from having to turn patients away because they couldn’t treat them.
But the president of the Pancyprian Pharmaceutical Association, Nicos Nouris, contradicted Irodotou, describing his statements as “astonishing”.
Nouris told the Committee that he had tried to investigate the reasons why the three specific drugs had dried up in the private sector. “The one company said that due to the new invoicing policy, the drug has been deemed non-profitable and for this reason it can no longer be imported.”
The second company, said Nouris, said that it could import the drug, even though it was not profitable, but it had difficulties handling the renewal of relevant files.
The third company remains in the market.
He then wondered what the financial strains were that dentists were feeling, “seeing that beforehand they used to purchase the specific drug at £7.50 directly from the trader and £6.50 from pharmacies.”
Nouris also wondered whether dentists’ habit of buying drugs in bulk, and consequently creating serious stock problems, might have something to do with the problems they are facing.
