Can Irish Patients Claim Tax Relief on Dental Work in Turkey?

Updated 10 October 2026 · GetClinicTurkey Editorial · General information, not tax advice. Revenue’s guidance can change, so check the current pages on revenue.ie before you claim.

Yes. If you pay tax in Ireland, you can usually claim relief at 20% on non-routine dental treatment you have in Turkey, as long as the dentist is entitled to practise in Turkey and completes a Form Med 2 for you. Implants, veneers and full-arch work have caveats; flights and hotels do not count.

How Irish health expenses relief works

Revenue: “You generally receive tax relief for health expenses at your standard rate of tax (20%)” (Revenue).

• It is a refund of tax you have paid. Revenue says that to benefit “you must have paid tax in the relevant year” (Revenue). You cannot get back more than you paid.
• You can claim for someone else if you paid. If two people share the bill, each claims their own part.
• Insurance payouts come off. You claim only on the part not repaid by an insurer, the HSE or a compensation payment.
• You need receipts. For dental work the key receipt is the Med 2.

Which dental treatments qualify?

Irish tax law splits dental work into routine and non-routine. Routine treatment is “the extraction, scaling and filling of teeth” and “the provision and repair of artificial teeth or dentures”, and it is excluded (Tax and Duty Manual 15-01-12). Revenue’s list of non-routine treatments (Revenue: dental expenses) maps onto the work people most often travel to Turkey for like this:

Implants: read the small print

Revenue lists implants, with bone grafting and bone augmentation, only as part of periodontal (gum disease) treatment: on its dental expenses page, in box G of the Med 2 form and in Appendix 2 of the Tax and Duty Manual, which reads “implants following treatments of periodontal (gum) disease”. That appendix is a list of examples, so Revenue may consider other cases, but implants that replace teeth lost to decay or injury are not expressly covered. Get Revenue’s confirmation before you count on relief.

Do not count on relief for the abutment and crown on top of an implant either. Revenue defines a crown as a restoration “permanently cemented to existing tooth tissue”, and the law excludes “the provision and repair of artificial teeth or dentures”. Ask Revenue before you include them.

Veneers, All-on-4 and cosmetic work

Veneers appear on the list as “a type of crown”. Revenue also excludes cosmetic procedures whose “sole or main purpose” is to improve appearance (Tax and Duty Manual, paragraph 12). We found no guidance on how the two rules interact for a smile makeover done purely for looks. With All-on-4 and All-on-6, the implants face the gum disease condition above and the fixed arch of teeth could fall under the “artificial teeth or dentures” exclusion. Composite veneers and bonding carry another risk: the manual tells caseworkers to check whether a treatment involves “filling of teeth”, and allows inlays only if “fabricated outside the mouth”, so chairside composite work may be treated as routine. Ask Revenue before relying on any of these. Still choosing? See veneers versus crowns.

The rules for treatment outside Ireland

Revenue says: “You can claim for non-routine dental treatment performed outside of Ireland.” The dentist must be qualified under that country’s laws and must complete a Form Med 2 (Revenue).

At home you would check the Dental Council register. Abroad, the test is whether the dentist is “entitled under the laws of the country in which the care is provided to practice dentistry there”. Ask for the treating dentist’s name and qualification, and check the clinic with our Ministry licence check.

Travel and accommodation do not qualify. Where qualifying care is available in Ireland but you opt to have it abroad, “Travelling and accommodation costs are not allowable as such costs are not considered necessarily incurred as the treatment could have been carried out in Ireland” (Tax and Duty Manual, paragraph 8.2). They are only allowable when the care is not available in Ireland, which is unlikely for crowns or implants.

The Med 2 form: what your Turkish dentist needs to complete

The Med 2 is a one-page receipt, not a claim form. Irish dentists get it through the Irish Dental Association; a Turkish clinic is unlikely to have one, so print the Med 2 PDF and take it with you. It asks for:

• your name, address and PPSN;
• the treatment type (boxes A to J, from crowns to bridgework);
• treatment dates, payment dates and amounts in euro;
• the dentist’s signature, name and address, qualifications and Dental Council registered number.

The amounts should include “all payments made to the relevant practitioner in relation to all non-routine treatment, including any consultations and related diagnostic procedures”, so related X-rays and scans count.

A Turkish dentist has no Irish Dental Council number, and Revenue does not say what to enter there: ask before you travel, and ask how to convert payments made in sterling or lira. If treatment runs over more than one year, the dentist “must complete a separate Med 2 for each year”, which is common when implants need two trips.

Worked examples at our planning prices

These use the lower end of our 2026 planning ranges. Relief is 20% of the qualifying amount, capped at the tax you paid that year.

Treatments Revenue lists as non-routine

Only if Revenue accepts the claim

Example only. Your relief depends on your own circumstances. The €350 implant row covers the implant only, not the abutment and crown on top, which may not qualify. Flights, hotel and transfers earn no relief. Prices are planning figures from our 2026 implant price guide and price calculator, not quotes.

If you receive treatment in one year and pay for it the next, Revenue says you can claim in either year (Revenue). Revenue does not address the reverse case, a deposit paid in an earlier year than the treatment. The Med 2 records treatment dates and payment dates separately, so ask Revenue which year to claim in.

How to claim through myAccount

The old Med 1 form is no longer available. Health expenses are claimed online (Revenue).

For the current year (PAYE):

1. Sign in to myAccount and open “Manage your tax for the current year” under PAYE Services.
2. Select “Add new credits”, then “Health” and “Health expenses”.
3. Complete and submit the form. For non-routine dental work, the Tax and Duty Manual says you must upload an image of your Med 2 through the Receipts Tracker.

For the previous four years (PAYE):

1. Sign in to myAccount and select “Review your tax for the previous 4 years”.
2. Request a Statement of Liability, then “Complete Income Tax Return”.
3. On the “Tax Credits & Reliefs” page, select “Health” and “Health expenses”, and include the dental amount under the Non-Routine heading.

Self-assessed taxpayers use the health expenses section of Form 11 on ROS. Revenue says most online claimants receive any refund due in five working days. Under the four year rule, each of the last four tax years is a separate claim. Keep the Med 2 and receipts for six years in case Revenue asks to see them.

What we could not confirm

Ask Revenue before you count on relief for:

• implants not linked to gum disease treatment, and implant abutments and crowns;
• All-on-4 or All-on-6 arches, cosmetic veneers, composite veneers or bonding;
• a deposit paid in the year before treatment;
• the Dental Council number field for a foreign dentist, and payments in other currencies.

Before you travel: a short checklist

1. Print a blank Med 2 and ask the clinic, before you pay a deposit, whether the treating dentist will complete it.
2. Get a written, itemised plan that separates dental work from hotel and transfers (see what to check before paying a deposit).
3. Pay by a traceable method, keep every invoice, and ask for a Med 2 for each calendar year of treatment.
4. Relief does not replace insurance: read what travel insurance does and does not cover.

For timings, flights and what to pack, see our guide to planning a dental trip to Turkey.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I claim Irish tax relief on dental treatment in Turkey?

Usually, yes, for non-routine treatment such as crowns, root canal treatment and bridgework. The dentist must be entitled to practise dentistry in Turkey and must complete a Form Med 2 for you. Relief is generally 20%, limited to the tax you paid that year.

Can a Turkish dentist fill in the Med 2 form?

Revenue says the dentist abroad must complete a Med 2, and the form is a PDF on revenue.ie, so bring a printed copy. It has a field for a Dental Council registered number, which a Turkish dentist will not have. Ask Revenue how that field should be completed.

Can I claim my flights and hotel for dental treatment abroad?

Usually not. Where treatment is available in Ireland but you choose to have it abroad, Revenue says travelling and accommodation costs are not allowable.

Do veneers qualify for tax relief in Ireland?

Revenue lists veneers as non-routine, describing them as a type of crown, but it also excludes procedures whose sole or main purpose is to improve appearance. Confirm with Revenue before relying on relief for purely cosmetic veneers.

How far back can I claim dental tax relief?

Four years, with each year claimed separately. Revenue’s own example is that claims for 2022 must be made by 31 December 2026.

Do I need to send the Med 2 to Revenue?

Not with an end-of-year claim. The Med 2 is a receipt, not a claim form: keep it for six years. If you claim during the year in real time, you upload an image of it through myAccount.

Sources

• Revenue: Health expenses (overview)
• Revenue: What are qualifying expenses?
• Revenue: Dental expenses
• Revenue: How do you claim health expenses?
• Revenue: Form Med 2, Dental expenses certified by dental practitioner (PDF)
• Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-12, Health Expenses: Qualifying Expenses (PDF)
• Revenue: Four year rule
• Dental Council of Ireland: Dental registers

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