The Health Service Executive Areas in Ireland provide dental services free of charge to Medical card holders and their dependants, but only under certain circumstances .Restrictions on dental treatment were put in place in April 2010. Now - treatment for Med card holders is subject to prior approval, which will be required from a clinician in the HSE, who will prioritise:


The Treatment Benefit Scheme - (PRSI) allows certain people to get free dental check ups - but any entitlement to free or reduced charges on dental treatment were withdrawn in the 2011 Budget.
Under this scheme, the HSE pays the full cost of an oral examination once a year. The examination is provided by private dentists who are on a Department of Social Protection's panel.

Free dental treatment is provided to preschool children and school children attending state primary schools who are referred from child health service and school health service examinations.

Dental services for children under 16 years of age who attend state primary schools and are referred from child and school health services are provided in health board clinics and in primary schools. (Free)

For the rest of the population - a vist to the Dentist will usually incur a charge. If you do pay for dental services from a private practitioner, you might be able to claim tax relief for certain specialised dental treatments. Routine treatments such as extractions, scaling and filling of teeth and provision and repairing of artificial teeth and dentures are excluded from tax relief.

Dentist fees can be as much as €80 for a check up
An extraction will cost on average €82, but prices range from €40 to €150
Compliacted treatment such as root canal treatment can cost around €900.

Some Irish people are heading to Northern Ireland for dental treatment - and some are reportedly saving thousands on dentists fees by going to Hungary !