Medical card?

SRFC

Ok folks Im 19 have not been the dentist in years terrified :eek: have not looked after my teeth at all pure lazyness but now I want them fixed,ive diagnosied my self with gum disease pretty clear i have it an its starting to spread an im very worried so ive plucked up the courage to get it sorted..first question is can it be sorted can the gums be repaired???

Second question can it be done on my medical card??

be grateful if anyone could recommend a dentist aswell anywhere in dublin my local dentist doesnt accept medical card



Thanks.

mush500

Hi SRFC- unfortunately the medical card only covers you for an exam and two fillings per year as well as any extractions required. Periodontal treatment- gum treatment- is no longer covered.
My advice would be to organise an examination first to confirm what you need done. It may be that you only have very mild gum problems and simple instruction on correct cleaning will sort this out. If not you always have the option of paying privately if further treatment is required which may also be minor and relatively inexpensive. Main thing is sort out a check up!

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Agreed 100% with mush500

dubdad

bummer
i just finished getting one extraction and four fillings.
when i initally went for an exam & cleaning i mentioned i had a medical card(its new to me this medical card thing), anyway i enquired if i would be able to use the medical card against any of this work and was told by the receptionist that 'as of' the last budget the medical card would get me NOTHING , no extraction , no filling not even a yearly examination and clean (which was all i thought i might to be able to get on the medical card)

AAAGGGHHHH ireland, if i didn't have four kids of varying ages i think i would seriously consider emmigration.

anyway, have i been mis-informed or just plain decieved:mad:

seriously confused
(and i thought i had found a good dentist at last)

Dianthus

If you were misinformed or just plain deceived, it was by the receptionist, not the dentist?

dubdad

well the receptionist is the the public interface of the practise.
she deals with my credit cards when its time to pay for my treatment, and its who i talk to when i need an appointment or a price on a treatment.

anyway she is a member of staff and she seemed to know what she was talking about. she was good enough to give me a form for the tax man though, lot of use that is as i am out of work at the moment.

point is she should have known, or if she didn't she should have told me so.

anyway not much information here,think i go elsewhere for my answers

Dianthus

Mush500& fitzgeme (see above posts) have already replied as to what's covered by the medical card. There is also a "sticky" at the top of the dental issues page here on boards re medical card, which repeats more or less the same thing.There should be no confusion. Ah well.

dubdad

yeah thanks dianthus, you are right of course

i was just raging a bit.
i do see the info there, but this is after the fact. the work (which i cannot fault) is done and paid for.

you would think though that the man from the street shouldn't have to go trawling for basic information from a website.

if for instance i could have got some of this work done on the medical card, but only by certain regestered dentists i should have been told this, surely they should have known.

can i for example, claim a refund for some of the expense through a gov. body?

Dianthus

If the receptionist works in a non-medical card practice, or was new to the job, she genuinely may not have known...however that's not to say she shouldn't have known, or have advised you to ask around.
If it's any consolation, it's unlikely there was anything malicious in it (particularly in this climate, the vast majority of practices are keen to retain patients longterm, not lose them after a once-off course of treatment!)
As regards refunds from the hse/government body, maybe someone here can answer that? Friday nights/weekends won't be the time to contact the relevant hse authorities
Best of luck OP.

hg03 eyu

dubdad when you first contacted that practice it should have been established if the dentist was participating in the medical card scheme (DTSS)? This is the key point.

If that practice was not currently participating in the medical card scheme than there was no obligation on anybody in that practice to advise you on what the medical card covers.

The local health board can provide medical card patients with lists of participating local dentists.

Unfortunately you have no chance of getting a refund from the state!!