DUBLIN, Ireland: The financial crisis in Ireland appears to have had a massive impact on the dental business. According to a survey carried out by the Irish Dental Association (IDA), approximately 1,000 staff have been retrenched from dental surgeries across the country over the past 12 months.

The Irish newspaper Sunday Business Post reported that 74% of dental surgeries surveyed by the IDA said that they had been forced to reduce the hours of staff such as secretaries, hygienists, assistants and dentists. Furthermore, 95% of the dentists said that they were under financial pressure, suggesting that further retrenchments or even practice closures are inevitable.

“It is an escalating problem, and has implications for the viability of dental practices,” said Fintan Hourihan, CEO of the IDA.

The Irish financial crisis began in 2008 and is one reason that the country fell into a recession in the same year. At the beginning of 2009, the BBC reported that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Ireland had risen to 326,000. This was the highest monthly level since record-keeping began in 1967.