The Irish Dental Association has voted to accept a Government deal that will end their long-running dispute over pay.
The resolution to the dispute, which goes back to July 2000, means that patients will now pay 10 per cent more on emergency work other than fillings.
Expected expenditure by the Department on dental benefit in 2003 will amount to €38 million to €40 million. Last year spending on dental benefit by the Department amounted to €35.1 million compared to €35 million in 2001.
The resolution will re-institute the Dental Treatment Benefit Scheme for some 1.7 million PRSI workers.
The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs has a contract with dentists for the provision of certain dental care.
Eligible PRSI workers receive the treatment for free or at a reduced rate. The Department then pays dentists the difference at an agreed rate.
PRSI patients earning under €45,000 per annum will face a ten percent increase on all treatments other than fillings which will be charged at the normal private fee less a 15 percent deduction negotiated by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Mary Coughlan and an increased contribution from the Department which rises from €26.54 to €29.20.
Extractions will cost the patient €11.75 up from €10.67.
Expenditure by the Department on dental benefit in 2002 amounted to €35.1million compared to €35 million in 2001.
The dispute was based on the Irish Dental Association's belief that charges were too low and that patients should be charged an increased fee.
The proposal was opposed by the Department, but the new deal, negotiated with Minister Mary Coughlan, means patients will now pay 10 per cent more on subsidised treatment other than fillings which shall now be charged at the private rate less the Department's subsidy and a 15 per cent discount.