Two members of the Irish Dental Association are seeking a High Court injunction to restrain the HSE from implementing a scheme which provides funding only for emergency dental treatment for medical card holders.
The HSE decision essentially involves the breaking up of the medical card dental scheme, the dentists claim. A HSE circular last month stipulated that patients with medical cards are only to be provided with emergency dental treatment.
The dental association said it meant hundreds of thousands of medical card holders would be denied a range of routine treatments including fillings and extractions, provision of dentures and treatment of gum disease.
Ms Justice Mary Laffoy yesterday gave permission to Eileen Barrington, for the two dentists, to serve short notice on the HSE of their application for an injunction to stop the new scheme.
The injunction application is returnable to tomorrow.