New rules in place since June require all dentists to display their fees, but how many are complying? A HEALTHplus survey finds out
AFRAID OF going to the dentist? Now there should be one less reason for dreading a visit. New rules in place since June require all dentists to display their fees, a move that should make the extraction from your wallet less of a surprise.
“Patients should now be able to check fees in advance for a range of treatments including examinations, X-rays, routine and surgical extractions, root canal treatment and crowns,” says the president of the Dental Council, Dr Eamon Croke.
With a study by the National Consumer Agency last year showing that only 32 per cent of dentists displayed a price list, have things improved? A whistle-stop tour of Irish dental practices finds out.
Dublin
First stop is IFSC Dental Care on Lower Mayor Street in the heart of Dublin’s Docklands, a practice that must get its fair share of bankers through the door. Established in 2004, the practice says it now cares for up to 5,000 patients.
The practice passes the display test with prices on view under the glass top of the reception desk.
While a routine dental examination is free for those covered by PRSI, the practice recommends X-rays as part of the exam to assess the full health of the patient’s mouth. These cost € 20 each but are optional.
You may be able to bring your X-rays from your previous dentist but those more than one year old would need to be re-taken.
The cost of a routine clean performed by a dental hygienist is €60, while a routine white filling costs €90 rising to €150 only in “extreme” cases.
A basic extraction is priced at €70, with more surgical procedures such as the removal of a wisdom tooth rising to €250.
Moving Southside to the clinic of Dr Barry Cramer and Dr Mary O’Neil at the Swan Centre in Rathmines, the price list is clearly on display in reception, with a current special offer in the window of an examination, scale and polish for € 50, €10 cheaper than a clean at the Mayor Street practice.
Here the cost of a filling ranges from €70 to €130. The cost of an extraction ranges from €80 to €180.
Staying on the southside, SCR Dental at 11 South Circular Road has its price list on display to the left of its reception hatch, making it a little difficult to spot in the narrow hallway.
An examination is free and a hygienist’s clean costs € 70, €20 more expensive than the special offer at the Swan Centre. It costs €85-€90 for routine fillings and extractions.
Moving back across the Liffey, Phibsboro Dental Care located over Phibsboro Shopping Centre offers a scale, polish and clean including a free examination for € 50 and prices are clearly on display in reception and in the waiting room.
Extractions are priced from €80, while fillings are from just €50, the cheapest price we’ve seen quoted in Dublin for a filling.
Niall Vallely, co-principal surgeon at the practice, says he’s “delighted” with the new rules.
“It will improve competition. The days of people turning up to their dentist, opening their mouth and then going out and paying the bill no matter what are gone,” he says.
“People are phoning five or six dentists now, and they are phoning a dentist in Newry or in Poland. They are really doing their homework,” he says.
Asked if he thinks some practices push the “up-sell” when the patient is in the dentist’s chair, he says: “If it is the case that certain practices are engaged in doing a lot of up-sell, with blogs and Twitter now people can get reputations very quickly.
“Dentists are just going to have to be more keen with their prices and more transparent.”
– Joanne Hunt
Cork
McHugh House Dental Practice on the Grand Parade in Cork has prices displayed in two separate locations – opposite the reception desk and in the waiting room.
The price lists are laminated and separate information is also provided on medical card and PRSI entitlements.
An examination and X-ray costs €30, fillings are priced from €75-€100 depending on the type needed, while extractions also range from €75-€100 depending on what level of surgery is required.
Dental hygienist Bridget Murphy, who works in the surgery as well as three other practices in Cork, says all practices she works in display prices.
Most routine work is priced the same, she says, but there can be offers from time to time for more complicated procedures.
“In some places you can get crowns for €700-€950 and they may be down to €600. There is no real difference in price between city and country practices, and the ones I know all have the price lists up. I’d be surprised to hear some don’t, considering patients are more assertive.”
Associate dentist Robert Gleeson says he believes displayed price lists are welcomed by patients.
“I think it is a good thing, because sometimes patients don’t like discussing finance, and now they can see exactly the costs involved in the waiting room, before they meet the dentist.”
Mike McCarthy runs one of Cork city’s oldest practices located above Mothercare on Patrick Street. The price lists are displayed in the waiting room area, and give a detailed breakdown of many procedures.
McCarthy has been working at the practice since 1994, and there has been a dental surgery at this location since the early 1960s.
A routine extraction costs €70, a silver filling is € 65 while a white composite filling costs €75. An examination with a small X-ray costs €30, while a large X-ray costs €60.
At one point there were three full-time dentists working in the surgery, but now there is one full-time and one part-time dentist.
“We haven’t had anyone request to see the price list or had any patients take notice of it,” says McCarthy.
“I think people expect prices to be reasonable at this stage because of the recession and competition within the profession.”
The Eamon Kearney Dental Surgery on Grand Parade has been in Cork since 1971 and has three dentists.
There was no price list on view in any area of the surgery. Staff at reception say price lists have been organised but are in the process of being laminated and therefore not ready to be displayed.
According to a staff member, “there was no privacy here about prices. So we have no problem with displaying the prices.”
Eamon Kearney says: “I have to put my hands up and say I didn’t have them up in the office and offer my apologies.”
A routine filling or an extraction starts from €70. The price quoted for an examination with an X-ray is €40.
The practice expects the price lists to be on view to the public this week in both the waiting room and reception, once they are laminated.
– Brian O’Connell
Midlands
All of the dental practices visited in the midlands have observed the new dental code of practice requiring the display of private dental fees.
Dentist Dr John O’Mahony in Church Street, Tullamore, Co Offaly, welcomes the introduction. “People are pricing everything nowadays, it’s a good idea – it’s transparency,” he says.
While he believes “people do shop around nowadays”, O’Mahony says he is fortunate to have a good deal of repeat custom.
Across the road in Church Street, Dr Frank Ryan has his price list displayed behind the counter. Receptionist Aisling Bracken says “people don’t really mind,” adding, “the same people come back”.
She doesn’t believe the new requirements have had a great impact. More commonly, she says, “we are getting a lot of people on the phone saying how much is this and that and they will ring back”.
At Dr Brendan Higgins’s practice at Castle Street in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, prices are displayed behind the counter and in the waiting room.
“We have always had our pricing up anyway,” says receptionist Evelyn Munnelly. “We have got our own patients who are coming for years and years and they stay generally.”
Admitting people have become more cost conscious, Munnelly says: “They shop around but most of our patients come back to us.”
A short distance away at Mary Street in Mullingar, prices are also on display in the reception and waiting room of Dr Michael Drury’s practice.
Receptionist Caroline Murray believes people are more likely to phone around to check prices rather then inspect them at the practice.
Although cost is a factor for patients, she doesn’t think the price list regulations have influenced customers to any great extent. “I’d say a lot of our business is repeat business,” she says.
She believes people are making fewer visits to the dentist as a result of the economic downturn. The problem has been compounded by changes to the PRSI dental scheme, she adds.
Back in Tullamore, a price list is fixed to the front door of the practice of Scott, Bannon and Ryan on Kilbride Street.
An examination, diagnosis and treatment plan costs €35, while a prescription costs €20. Small and large X-rays cost €30 and €40, and a routine extraction is €65.
While there are slight variations around the midlands region, price fluctuations do not appear to be significant.
– Eoghan MacConnell
Galway
All three dentists visited in Galway city had their fees clearly displayed close to the entrance.
But there was a noticeable difference in the price ranges. Examinations varied from €30 to €70, with white fillings ranging from €65 to €200.
The examination charge quoted at Jason McEvaddy and Associates at Devon Park Dental in Salthill was €30. It was €40 at Dr Eilis O’Hagan on Fr Griffin Avenue. At Dr Madeline O’Reilly in The Small Crane close to the city centre, consultation is free, with a €70 charge for examination.
O’Reilly says she has always had her prices on display since she set up her own business six years ago.
“It is necessary for us to give a price range rather than a fixed prices because the work varies depending on the severity of the disease,” she says.
“It is my belief that patients should be kept well informed on what they have, how severe it is, and the amount of work needed to fix the problems.
“But people are well educated and I have found that many of them are now ringing me to organise their three-month check-ups.
“They know that further down the line they will encounter bigger bills and larger projects if they don’t keep up to date.”
O’Reilly has noticed that patients are shopping around more. “Often times people will come in and tell me they can get a crown done for a cheaper price somewhere else, but perhaps they do not need a crown at all.
“I offer free consultations to all my patients and I tell them exactly what is needed.”
The biggest price disparity concerns crowns, with prices quoted ranging from €300 to €1,600, but the dentists say this reflects the different requirements of patients.
– John Fallon
Ennis
A small survey of Ennis dental practices shows that it pays to shop around.
A visit to four dentists found that all practices have their prices on display prominently in their reception areas.
However, the survey shows variations in the prices charged for the basic services provided.
The cost of a dental exam ranges from €30 to €50, while the cost of white and amalgam fillings ranges from €70 to €160. The cost of an extraction is €70-€180.
A number of the practitioners provide price bands rather than exact prices, giving them flexibility in what they charge and customers less of an idea of what the ultimate bill will be.
Waiting in Colman Counihan’s surgery, Gort woman Bernie Finnegan says the display of prices “is a brilliant move. Before going to the dentist, you wouldn’t know what you would be charged, so this is a very good thing.
“The cost of going to the dentist is way too high, but you have no other choice if you have a very sore tooth.”
In the waiting room of Dr Barry Hillery’s surgery, Adrian Stackpoole says: “There is less and less treatment you can receive through your PRSI and that makes going to the dentist more expensive, but the work is very professional and you have to be prepared to pay for it.”
Hillery says the new display of charges has resulted “in little comment” from patients. “It is a positive development in that it is a help for patients coming in and creates more transparency,” he says.
“We have always tried to be as upfront and transparent as possible with patients in providing an estimate of the costs, particularly when we are talking about a substantial course of treatment.
“It is a very expensive service to provide – and we are mindful of the difficult economic circumstances people are living in – and I believe that we provide a value-for-money service by keeping prices affordable.”
– Gordon Deegan