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People in Ireland are well accustomed to travelling to Northern Ireland on the ‘pain train’ in order to access cheaper dentistry. It’s been happening for so long that people naturally assume that they will save money. However, a number of years ago the Irish Dental Council removed its restrictions on dental advertising, which had for years acted as a barrier to competition south of the border. Since the removal of the ban there has been a sea of change in dental practice in Ireland; with patients reaping the benefits.

Dr O'Flaherty, co-founder and principal dentist of the Seapoint Clinic said: “Before the ban on advertising was lifted there was very little incentive for dentists to improve their practice or to add new state-of-the-art equipment. Only if you lived locally would you be aware of the investment. But, with the ban now lifted, we are able to invest heavily in the practice to make sure everything is patient focused. Ireland now has much nicer clinics and high quality treatments.

“We bought the first CT scanner in Ireland outside of a dental hospital to allow more accurate placing of dental implants. We were able to install a fully fitted on-site dental laboratory so we could make our own crowns and bridges. With the ban in place, it would have been far too expensive to carry out the work as nobody would have known how different we, as a practice, are.”

Things have changed and patients are travelling down from Northern Ireland in increasing numbers to gain access to cheaper dentistry. With the increased competition in the Republic, there are a huge number of offerings in terms of service and quality. Some practices are offering extremely low cost dentistry, while others focus on the high quality treatments.

Even at the high end, there are significant savings to be made by staying in the Republic of Ireland.

We examined the price of a dental implant consultation in Cranmore, Belfast, one of Northern Ireland`s best practices. The cost for the examination and X-rays came in at £120-230. In the Seapoint Clinic, Ireland`s largest and comparable award winning clinic, the same consultation would only cost €130. That works out as a saving of €45-€195 just for the initial examination and scans.

A dental implant in the same clinic in Belfast will cost you £1995 versus €1995 in the Seapoint Clinic. That means a saving per implant of €750 per implant before you factor in travel costs and time savings Amazingly, some people still travel ‘up North’ because they don’t realise they can save money staying at home.

The savings have become so significant that the Seapoint Clinic has started advertising in Northern Ireland. “So many people are unaware of the potential savings of travelling to the Republic of Ireland for dental treatment that we thought they needed to be made aware. People have always assumed it’s cheaper in Northern Ireland because it used to be so, but that’s not the case anymore,” added Dr O'Flaherty.

There are further savings to be made in general dental care in other practices in the Republic. In Balbriggan Dental Care white fillings cost only €80-€100. In Helens Bay Dental in Bangor the same will cost you £153+ or €210+. That is a saving of €130+ per filling. Dr Heeney of Balbriggan Dental Care said: “we offer extremely competitive prices and our aim is to try to keep as much business as possible in the Republic. With the changes in the currency over the last two years, we have seen a massive increase in people coming to the clinic from all areas”.