Medical card dental treatment abused by dentists

SOME dentists are taking decisions for financial gain and not a patient’s clinical need, a research project funded by the Health Research Board has found.

Health economist Dr Noel Woods said there were indications that a number of dentists were giving medical card patients more treatments than were necessary and costing the State €5 million a year.

He stressed he had not proven any irregularities among dental practices, but his research called for more transparency in the treatment given to medical card patients. “If your dental delivery system provides economic incentives to providers, with no probity checks, then you’re wide open for exploitation.”