According to The Irish Times, people in the South of Ireland are travelling north to get a better price for their dental treatment; many dental practices are effectively private clinics within the National Health system and have a large list of patients, around 1,000 per surgeon. Due to extreme discrepancies in treatment prices, people are prepared to travel to Northern Ireland to get a better deal.
Seamus O’Hagan, partner at O’Hagan and Murray Dental Surgeons in Newry, is used to patients crossing the border to arrange treatment, saying his practice sees around fifteen cases per day. He commented that most people who approach their clinic were looking for root canal fillings, saying ‘If there’s [a treatment] with a big price disparity – root canals, crown and bridge work – they come North. They also come for cosmetic treatments such as coloured fillings or tooth-whitening.’ According to Mr O’Hagan, his prices start from 178euros for this sort of procedure, whereas a clinic in the South of Ireland would charge at least 300euros.
One Southern dentist, Tom Rodgers, said that he tries to keep his prices comparable with the North, although this is sometimes a struggle due to State funding. Mr Rodgers went on to say ‘I got zero help [from the state] when I started here. The only way I got anything was by going in and talking to the bank. They loaned me the money and I’m still paying it off. ‘He added that the Government in the South of the country have cut medical benefits and PRSI, adding that ‘In terms of dental healthcare here in the Republic, there is definitely a ticking time bomb.’