Dentist boycott of scheme leaves millions without care

JUST 150 dentists are still participating in the Government’s PRSI dental scheme, leaving more than one million patients without State-subsidised treatment, the Irish Dentist’s Association (IDA) claimed yesterday.

The IDA says that of 750 dentists originally on the PRSI panel, 600 were not working the scheme.

The dispute, running for more than two years, began when dentists lodged a claim for fee increases above the annual consumer price index increases allowed under the PRSI scheme contract.