Dental on Medical Card

iwantthat

I am a medical card holder.
On a recent visit to the dentist, i was told that i needed a filling to be taken out and refilled again but because the same tooth was filled less than five years ago, i wasn't covered for it on medical card. So i end up paying private fee of 70€.
Now reading http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/2/dental/
I am convinced that i was covered under medical card.
Can someone clear this up for me and if i was charged wrongfully, what action should i take.

hdowney

2 fillings per year on the mc

snubbleste

You can issue a complaint to the Principal Dental Surgeon in the HSE for your area.

Balagan

iwantthat wrote: »

I am a medical card holder.
On a recent visit to the dentist, i was told that i needed a filling to be taken out and refilled again but because the same tooth was filled less than five years ago, i wasn't covered for it on medical card. So i end up paying private fee of 70€.
Now reading http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/2/dental/
I am convinced that i was covered under medical card.
Can someone clear this up for me and if i was charged wrongfully, what action should i take.

Not sure that it is for five years, but am sure that they don't do a repeat filling under the Medical Card for some period.

iwantthat

Balagan wrote: »

Not sure that it is for five years, but am sure that they don't do a repeat filling under the Medical Card for some period.

Confirmed with HSE. It is 5 years limit.

hdowney

Never had that before

myshirt

Count yourself lucky. My sister couldnt get her tooth out on medical card because the records indicated she was only supposed to have 3 teeth.

She is 27.

OP - I think your guy is right though. And the price you paid was actually very, very good. What part of the country are you in?

_Whimsical_

iwantthat wrote: »

Confirmed with HSE. It is 5 years limit.

So you get a filling, it falls out, and the HSE won't refill it again for 5 years??

I think that in such a case, presuming you weren't over your 2 per year limit, that most dentists would overlook the 5 year thing. That's insanity. You should ask on the dental forum though.

iwantthat

I am in Galway.

myshirt wrote: »

Count yourself lucky. My sister couldnt get her tooth out on medical card because the records indicated she was only supposed to have 3 teeth.

She is 27.

OP - I think your guy is right though. And the price you paid was actually very, very good. What part of the country are you in?

iwantthat

The dentist was good enough. I just had doubts about the one filling per 5 year thing.

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

So you get a filling, it falls out, and the HSE won't refill it again for 5 years??

I think that in such a case, presuming you weren't over your 2 per year limit, that most dentists would overlook the 5 year thing. That's insanity. You should ask on the dental forum though.

hawthorne

The 5 year period is fully correct-unfortunately.
It is one of the lesser know things about "free" dental care under the medical card sheme.
So if your new filling is falling out after a week, you have to pay yourself for it if you want it refixed. Unless you proof to the dentist that his work was bad and he has to redo it under his own costs.
Dentists cannot ignore this 5 year rule, not even as a favour- unless they do the job completely for free.
When a dentist does a filling on the medical card sheme he must send in a detailed plan with the exact location of the tooth he treated,together with your medical card number.The treatment plan is kept on file by the Dof Health and checked out in detail.
This is the only way the dentist can get his agreed fee from the Department of Health.
I have seen the whole paperwork myself-both from the dentist and the DoH. There is no doubt about it.