Figures reveal high earning dentists in Ireland
Figures released by the Health Service Executive have revealed that hundreds of dentists earned more than 100,000 Euros in medical card payments last year.
Nine practices in Ireland took more than 300,000 Euros in medical card payments and 59 dentists took more than 200,000 Euros. Last year, the state paid a total of more than 79 million Euros to 895 dentists, according to the list published recently by the Health Service Executive.
Hundreds of dentists have turned to private practice in the last few years, with many complaining about the fees they receive for treating medical card holders. Private fees are very high in Ireland and an increasing number of patients are choosing to go to Northern Ireland or to other European countries for treatment. Treatment in some Eastern European countries, for example, can be up to 60 percent lower than those charged by private Irish dentists.
It is expected that more dentists will turn to private practice, following huge cuts in the medical card scheme, which now offers patients very little in return for their monthly payments. There has been a huge uproar amongst dentists and dental patients since the Health Service Executive announced that it was making radical changes to the medical card system; two dentists have even launched a court case against the HSE and have so far been successful.
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