Dentists should display prices, consumers say

CONSUMERS called on the Government yesterday to force dentists here to display their prices after it emerged that they are charging almost four times more for certain orthodontic treatments than their colleagues in other countries.

This followed the revelation that one Irish man had four major orthodontic treatments carried out while on holidays in South Africa for €6,500.

When he returned to Ireland he showed the work to his orthodontist who complimented it and said the same procedures would have cost around €20,500 here.

This revelation and several other examples on RTÉ's Joe Duffy show yesterday prompted the Irish Consumers Association (CAI) to call on the Government to force dentists and doctors here to display their prices.

"If dentists were forced to display their prices, then consumers might be able to understand better why they are paying far higher prices here," CAI chief executive Dermott Jewell said.

An independent survey of 70 dentists here and in the North conducted by the CAI recently revealed a major difference in price for the cost of fitting a crown.

"We found that the cost in the Republic varied between €600-2,400 for a crown and in Belfast the very same procedure cost between €375 and €450," Mr Jewell said.

The CAI have been campaigning for several years for dentists to be forced to display prices here in a bid to bring some more transparency to the system.

Under the current legislation, most traders and business people except doctors and dentists are obliged to display prices.

Former Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister Mary Harney, whose department has jurisdiction over consumer rights, supported the CAI in their bid to have doctors and dentists included in the group who must display prices.

But it is understood that after seeking the advice of the Attorney General the department did not proceed with forcing dentists and doctors to display prices.

An Irish Dental Association spokesperson could not be reached for comment yesterday, but they have argued in the past that it is not possible for their members to display standard prices for procedures because no two mouths are the same.