NINE DENTAL practices earned more than €300,000 each for treating medical card holders last year, new figures reveal.
The State payouts to 895 dentists exceeded €79 million, according to figures released by the Health Service Executive (HSE) this week.
A total of 59 dentists earned more than €200,000 in gross payments, the figures show.
The payments list reveals that hundreds more earned over €100,000, although the lowest payments were less than €1,200.
Dentists are free to top up their income with private fees, which were recently said to be 30 per cent higher than those charged in Northern Ireland.
The profession has been criticised for high prices, which have led to people going to the North or eastern Europe for treatment.
Unlike GPs, who receive an annual capitation fee for each patient regardless of how often they visit the surgery, dentists only get paid after work has been done.
About 600 dentists left the medical card scheme in recent years because they were dissatisfied with the fees offered.