IDA says dental cover restrictions causing chaos and hardship

RESTRICTIONS on dental cover for medical card patients are causing chaos, confusion and hardship, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

In a submission to the Joint Committee on Health and Children, the Irish Dental Association (IDA) claimed treatment was being denied to cancer patients, special needs patients, elderly patients and those requiring dental checks ahead of major surgical operations.

The IDA said it believed that the suffering caused to 1.6 million dental patients was entirely avoidable.