The Irish Dental Association has said State dental schemes have seen effective cuts of €800m since 2009.
Its annual conference in Kilkenny heard there is a widening gap between those who can and can not afford dental care.
The association is seeking an overhaul of dental care for PRSI and medical card patients.
Fintan Hourihan, IDA chief executive, said a failure to keep spending at 2009 levels has meant a real cut in spending of over €800m between 2009 and 2023 amounting to a lost decade in oral care.
He said that the poorest and most vulnerable have suffered the most and that a major investment is needed for the two State dental schemes, if lost ground is to be made up.
Mr Hourihan said there has also been a significant hollowing out of public dental services, evidenced by the 104,000 school children denied dental screening appointments in 2023, due mainly to a shortage of public-only dentists.
The HSE said that while the HSE's community dental service has been impacted by capacity challenges in recent years, it provided 106,964 targeted assessments to patients last year.
It added that this year's National Service Plan provides for 15 additional clinical positions.
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The HSE said current access to free dental care for children is provided by the HSE Community Dental Service from within available resources, specifically an oral examination and necessary treatment for children at ages approximating to second and sixth class.
In some cases, fourth class with emergency care is provided for children of all ages up to 16.
A new three year oral health implementation plan for the national oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte, is expected to be launched soon, as promised in the Programme for Government.
The HSE said this includes reform of services for medical card holders and for children among the priority actions.
