Like you Noor77, I had a bad experience as a child and put off going to a dentist for years - then I ended up with a crumbling tooth and a lot of pain. Had a medical card at the time and went to see a fantastic Chinese dentist in Palmerstown called JP. Then 18 months (later I was working by then), I found another very sympathetic dentist in Lexilip, an Egyptian dentist called Ash. He replaced all my fillings, did root canel treatment and extracted impacted wisdoms using intravenous sedation. All-in-all came out at about 2500 punts in 1996!! Had the work down over a 6 month period. These two men restored my faith in dentistry - I'm such a baby really!
Anyway Ash charged for one consultation visit as the rest of the time I was having treatment (surely you shouldn't be charged for a consult EVERY time you go?) Like yourself I needed a large amount of work done and I think it's better to have it done in stages - rather that have a couple of weeks where you can't eat anything!!
By-the-by the intravenous sedation is fantasic if you are a nervous patient - teeth get fixed but you don't remember a thing! And if you are attending the same dentist (who presumably is someone you feel comfortable with and trust) would they not allow you to work out a payment plan?
€100 sounds very steep for a filling, my daughter is 9 with (obviously) no RSI contributions and a white filling for her was only €40 private. Going abroad SOUNDS all well and good but won't help you in the long run if your dental phobia still persists, unless you intend to pop off every 6 months for a check-up!? Be a shame to waste all that cash by not looking after the end result!
One last thing - I thought it stated in the SSIA literature that you couldn't use it to secure a loan?