Routine dental care

You cannot claim relief for routine dental care. This includes:

• Fillings
• Scaling or cleaning
• Tooth extraction
• Providing or repairing artificial teeth or dentures

Non-routine dental treatments

You can claim relief for non-routine dental care. This includes:

• Crowns
• Veneers or Rembrandt type etched fillings
• Tip replacing
• Gold posts or fibreglass posts
• Inlays (a smaller version of a gold crown). (You can only claim relief for gold if they are made outside the mouth.)
• Endodontics (root canal treatment)
• Periodontal treatment for gum disease such as:
  • Root planing (including curettage and debridement) and gum flaps
  • Chrome cobalt splints (but not if it contains teeth)
• Implants (including bone grafting and bone augmentation)
• Orthodontic treatment (provision of braces and related treatments)
• Surgical extraction of impacted wisdom teeth
• Bridgework (an enamel-retained bridge or a tooth-supported bridge)

Non-routine dental care outside Ireland

You can claim for non-routine dental treatment performed outside of Ireland. To qualify for relief, the dentist must be a qualified dentistry practitioner under that country's laws. You must have the dentist complete a Form Med 2 for your claim.

How to claim dental expenses

To claim tax relief on non-routine dental expenses you must:

• Include this amount in your health expenses claim under the Non-Routine heading
• Have a Form Med 2 completed by your dentist.

Your dentist will normally give a Med 2 to you after your treatment. If you receive treatment over more than one year, they must complete a separate Med 2 for each year.

Details on how to make a claim is explained in 'How do you claim health expenses?' page.

Note: The Med 2 is a receipt for your dental expenses. It is not the claim form. You do not need to send your Med 2 to Revenue, but you should keep it in your records. We may ask you to provide it if we need to check your claim.

Note: To qualify for relief, your health care must be carried out, or advised, by a registered practitioner such as a doctor or a dentist.

You can check if a practitioner is registered by checking their registration through the Irish Medical Council or the Dental Council of Ireland.

Qualifying health expenses are for healthcare you have paid for. Examples of qualifying health expenses are payment for:

• Doctor’s and consultant’s services
• Routine and maternity care for women during pregnancy
• Diagnostic procedures recommended by a practitioner
• Services in hospitals or treatment facilities such as clinics, where the services are either:
  • Provided by a practitioner
  • Or diagnostic procedures recommended by a practitioner
• Transport by ambulance
• In-vitro fertilisation (IVF)
• Acupuncture (only where provided by a practitioner)
• Non-routine dental care
• Treatment from a psychologist or psychotherapist where either:
  • The psychologist or psychotherapist is a practitioner
  • Or you are referred for a diagnostic procedure by a practitioner
• Additional expenses of health care for a child:
  • Suffering from a life-threatening illness or permanent disability
  • Or who needs speech and language therapy or educational psychological assessment
• Additional expenses for a kidney patient
• Nursing home and additional nursing care expenses

You can also claim relief on the following if you are prescribed, referred or advised to, by a practitioner:

• Drugs and medicines
• Orthoptic or similar treatment (treatment for squints and eye movement disorders)
• Physiotherapy or similar treatment (such as a chiropractor, osteopath or bone setter)
• Podiatry or chiropody costs
• Special diet expenses for coeliacs and diabetics
• Cost of purchasing, maintaining and repairing medical, surgical, dental or nursing appliances. This includes hearing aids.
  • (There are conditions that apply to the purchase of these items. These are explained in Tax and Duty Manual 15-01-12).

Health expenses specifically excluded from relief:

• Routine dental care
• Routine ophthalmic (eye) care, such as eye tests
• Cosmetic surgery or procedures, such as rhinoplasty, breast augmentation or Botox treatment
  • (Relief may be available where the surgery corrects a health issue, such as breathing difficulties. Contact your Revenue Office for further assistance)
• Guide and assistance dog costs (you can claim the Guide Dog Allowance or Assistance Dog Allowance)

Can you claim for health care received outside Ireland?

Yes. To qualify for relief, the medical practitioner must be registered under that country's laws to practice medicine or dentistry there.

If you travel abroad to receive health care that is not available in Ireland, you can also claim relief on:

• Reasonable accommodation and travel costs
• The accommodation and travel costs of a person who accompanies you (if your condition requires it).

You maybe asked to provide documentation to substantiate your claim. You are obliged to keep such documentation for 6 years.