Children as young as two are getting their teeth extracted because of severe tooth decay caused by sugary drinks.
The Irish Examiner reports that an expert has called for easier access to public dentists.
Dr Catherine Gallagher, Vice President of the Irish Dental Council has said parent's knowledge needs to be improved.
"I routinely take out 20 teeth for two-year-old children. Those are the ones who've actually managed to grow that many teeth," she said.
In some cases, the children have only grown 16 of the 20 teeth and all of these need to be removed.
This means that the children are growing up without any teeth until their adult ones come in around the age of ix.
"I have absolutely done that several times. We routinely take out eight, nine, 10, 12 teeth for five, six, seven, eight-year-olds," Dr Gallagher said.
She has called for more education for new parents as tooth decay is preventable.
Sugar is causing dental decay and many babies are being put to sleep with bottles sweetened with honey.
"The child is there all night long bathing their teeth in sugar," Dr Gallagher said.
Between 2006 and 2022, the number of HSE dentists dropped by 23%.
The Department of Health has since said that €15 million was allocated to dental care in the budget, with €4.75 million included for the development of prevention-focused oral healthcare for children under seven.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website Beat102103.com.
