Madam, - Pat O'Connell's letter of September 9th requires a little clarification lest your readers be misled into believing that a procedure that takes three minutes costs €600 here and only €64 in France.
I am a general dental practitioner with over 10 years' experience. In most cases, it is considered best practice to refer the extraction of wisdom teeth to the care of a specialist oral surgeon, as these teeth can present a difficult challenge. This referral ensures that the procedure itself and the post-operative healing is as fast and comfortable as possible for the patient. Naturally, with years of extra training and the increased insurances and indemnity, these highly qualified surgeons charge much more than a GP like myself.
Mr O'Connell himself makes this distinction between "routine and non-routine dental treatment". I can state with absolute conviction that I know of no "local dental surgeon" who charges anywhere near €600 for a routine extraction; I can only assume that the patient in this case is comparing the cost of a specialist/surgical extraction with that of a simple routine one.
Mr O'Connell's does not appear to compare like with like, an unfortunate and increasingly common trend where "dental tourism" is concerned. - Yours, etc,
Dr CIARAN KIRRANE,
Salthill,
Galway.