# Medical Card not covering extraction of wisdom teeth surgically



## shootingstar

my 18 year old has been told she needs to have 2 wisdom teeth extracted surgically. We have a medical card. However its not covered at all and the cost is close to a couple of 100 euros PER TOOTH! 

Can anyone shed some light on this for me? I dont have that sort of money


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## Time

How is it not covered? Surgical procedures in a public hospital must be covered.


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## shootingstar

I thought the same but my dentist says different!


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## NovaFlare77

Can I check a few things? 

A) I presume the card is a full medical card and not a GP Services card? 
B) Is the 18 year old's medical card in her own name? From my brief reading of the HSE website, children over 16 get their own card if certain criteria are met.
C) Is your daughter being admitted to a general public hospital (James', Vincent's, Mater, etc), or to a dental hospital (e.g. Cork University Dental Hospital, Dublin Dental Hospital)?

EDIT: Sorry if the first two questions seem blazingly obivous, but I'm an _Occum's_ _Razor/Simplest Answer tends to the Right One_ kinda guy.


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## shootingstar

NovaFlare77 said:


> Can I check a few things?
> 
> A) I presume the card is a full medical card and not a GP Services card?
> B) Is the 18 year old's medical card in her own name? From my brief reading of the HSE website, children over 16 get their own card if certain criteria are met.
> C) Is your daughter being admitted to a general public hospital (James', Vincent's, Mater, etc), or to a dental hospital (e.g. Cork University Dental Hospital, Dublin Dental Hospital)?
> 
> EDIT: Sorry if the first two questions seem blazingly obivous, but I'm an _Occum's_ _Razor/Simplest Answer tends to the Right One_ kinda guy.



Hi Nova,
She has her own full mnedical card. we have not yet done anything about it because I told the dentist I have no money to pay for this...  I assume she will go into the dental hospital in CUH??


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## NovaFlare77

If it's the dental hospital, then that might explain it. Although it's on the grounds of CUH, it's not a public hospital, so that's proabably why your dentists says it's not covered the by medical card.

Their website has a price list from March 2009 [broken link removed] and there's no mention of medical cards being recognised, from what I can see. However, I'd suggest calling them anyway to confirm that in case things have changed.


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## Time

You can get it done in MWRH in Limerick on a medical card no problems at all.


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## huskerdu

If your dentist won't or can't refer her to the public waiting list for this operation, you should ask your GP how to get referred.


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## Murnder

All patients with medical cards are entitled to have their wisdom teeth removed free of charge. If your general dentist is unable to remove them he/she should refer you to the area principal dental surgeon in the HSE and he/she will organise your referral to an oral surgeon to have this treatment carried out.

I am a public oral surgeon. The above is accurate and correct.


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## DaisyKee

Are you given a general anaesthethic for extraction of wisdom teeth??


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## Time

Yes. I was when had 3 removed a few years ago.


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## Berni

DaisyKee said:


> Are you given a general anaesthethic for extraction of wisdom teeth??


You can be, but many surgeons prefer to do it under concious sedation, as it is less risky for the patient.


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## JohnJay

DaisyKee said:


> Are you given a general anaesthethic for extraction of wisdom teeth??



It depends on the dentist and the position of the teeth.

My own dentist would not touch my wisdom teeth and sent me to a specialist in Dalkey. This guy took them out under sedation. 

And it wasnt as bad as people were telling me!


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