Dental patient service to help resolve rows

A free independent service will allow dental patients to resolve complaints about their treatment.

The Dental Complaints Resolution Service is being set up by the Irish Dental Association to allow relatively minor complaints against dentists to be handled in a quick, efficient, and cost-free manner through mediation.

Previously complaints could only be submitted to the profession’s regulatory body, the Dental Council, which is primarily concerned with handling complaints regarding professional misconduct or an individual dentist’s fitness to practise.