The Dental Complaints Resolution Service says "DIY dentistry" is a worrying trend that has started to emerge.

The DCRS said it received around ten complaints from people last year who bought braces or tooth whitening tools online.

Michael Kilcoyne, the facilitator for the DCRS, said he could not deal with these complaints because those selling the products are not registered dentists and therefore cannot be pursued.

The DRCS is a voluntary service which offers an independent and free mediator service to patients who have complaints about their registered dentist.

Publishing its fifth annual report, the DCRS said it dealt with 102 complaints last year - 30 less than the previous year.

The main areas of complaint were related to fees, clinical issues and communication failures.

More than half were resolved by the end of last year, involving refunding of fees, re-treatment or treatment elsewhere.

Chief Executive of the Irish Dental Association Fintan Hourihan said: "2016 has perhaps been the most successful yet for the DCRS with the settlement rate rising while the overall number of complaints has fallen."

He said it was interesting that 31% of complaints were about dentists who are not members of the Irish Dentists Association.

The report also noted that the number of people getting cheap dental work abroad continues to be a problem.

Mr Kilcoyne said there were a sizeable number of complaints from people who had work done aboard and it failed.

He said nothing can be done because the dentists are not regulated by the dental council.