Orthodontic Braces Tax Relief Ireland 2025: What Qualifies

Reviewed by: MyTaxRebate Team on 10 Mar 2026 | Authority: s.469 TCA 1997

Quick Answer

Orthodontic treatment - including fixed braces, clear aligners, removable appliances, and retainers - is listed in Appendix 2 of Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-12 as qualifying non-routine dental treatment. Tax relief is available at 20% of the costs you personally paid. A Med 2 form completed by your orthodontist is required, and you can backdate claims for up to four years.

If your orthodontic treatment spanned multiple years and you have not yet claimed, MyTaxRebate coordinates the Med 2 form, identifies every qualifying payment year, and submits the complete backdated claim - at no upfront cost.

What This Page Covers

• ✓Which orthodontic treatments qualify under Appendix 2 (fixed braces, clear aligners, retainers, TADs)
• ✓The Med 2 form: what it is, how to get one, and what it must contain
• ✓Paying in instalments across multiple years: how to claim in each year
• ✓Children's versus adult orthodontic treatment - both qualify
• ✓Public HSE treatment versus private treatment - the key distinction
• ✓Functional appliances in early orthodontic intervention

Key Facts at a Glance

• ✓Orthodontic treatment is listed in Appendix 2 of Revenue's guidance - it qualifies for 20% income tax relief. Fixed braces, clear aligners (Invisalign), and post-treatment retainers all qualify equally.
• ✓A Form Med 2 from your orthodontist is mandatory - ask for it at the start of treatment, not retrospectively. Without it, the claim cannot proceed regardless of how much you paid.
• ✓Both children's and adult orthodontic treatment qualify - there is no age restriction under Appendix 2.
• ✓Where treatment spans multiple years, claim the amount paid in each year separately - one Med 2 covers the full treatment plan but each year's payments are submitted in that year's return.
• ✓Public HSE orthodontic treatment provided at no cost to you does not generate a qualifying expense. Only personally-paid costs qualify.
• ✓In 2026, you can backdate orthodontic claims to 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 through your Revenue record's review the tax position position position function.

What orthodontic treatment qualifies under Appendix 2

Orthodontic treatment is explicitly named in Appendix 2 of Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-12, which sets out the full list of qualifying non-routine dental treatments. This means it is among the most clearly defined dental reliefs available - there is no ambiguity about whether orthodontic treatment qualifies. The qualifying procedures include:

• Fixed metal braces - the most common orthodontic appliance, consisting of metal brackets bonded to teeth and connected by archwires. Full fixed brace treatment qualifies from the bonding appointment through to debonding.
• Fixed ceramic braces - tooth-coloured brackets that function identically to metal braces and qualify equally under Appendix 2.
• Clear aligner systems (Invisalign, ClearCorrect, and similar) - removable clear plastic aligner series qualify equally with fixed braces as orthodontic treatment. The full treatment fee for the aligner series is a qualifying expense, covered by a Med 2 from the treating orthodontist.
• Removable orthodontic appliances - including functional appliances used in early intervention such as twin blocks, Frankel appliances, and palate expanders. These are qualifying orthodontic treatments when prescribed by a registered orthodontist.
• Orthodontic retainers - both fixed (bonded wire retainers bonded behind the teeth) and removable (Essix or Hawley retainers worn overnight). Retainers placed after active orthodontic treatment qualify under Appendix 2 and are claimed in the year the retainer is paid for.
• Temporary anchorage devices (TADs) - small titanium mini-implants placed temporarily in the jaw bone to provide a fixed anchor point during orthodontic movement. Appendix 2 explicitly lists temporary implants used as part of orthodontic treatment as qualifying.

The Med 2 form: what it is and how to get one

Form Med 2 is a certificate completed by your dentist or orthodontist confirming that the dental work carried out is qualifying non-routine treatment under Appendix 2 of Revenue's guidance. For orthodontic treatment, the Med 2 is completed by the treating orthodontist - it identifies the patient, the qualifying procedures carried out, the dates, and the amounts charged.

You retain the completed Med 2 for six years - you do not submit it with your your Revenue record claim, but it must be produced if Revenue contacts you for a compliance check. The most practical time to obtain the Med 2 is at the start of treatment or at the time of paying the final balance. Your orthodontist should be familiar with providing Med 2 forms and it is a routine request in any private orthodontic practice.

If you received orthodontic treatment in a prior year and did not obtain a Med 2 at the time, contact the orthodontic practice and ask for a retrospective Med 2 for the year or years of treatment. Most practices retain patient records for a minimum of eight years and can issue a retrospective Med 2 from those records. This is the mechanism for backdating an orthodontic claim where the Med 2 was not obtained at the time of treatment.

Children's orthodontic treatment

If you are a parent or guardian paying for orthodontic treatment for a child, the qualifying costs are entered in your own health expenses claim - as the parent who paid. There is no requirement that the patient make the claim themselves. The child can be any age - there is no age restriction on orthodontic treatment for the purposes of this relief. Primary and secondary school age children, as well as adult children, all qualify equally.

Where both parents contribute to the cost of orthodontic treatment, each parent claims only the amount they personally paid. If one parent pays the full treatment cost from their account, that parent claims the full qualifying amount. If payments are made from a joint account, either parent can claim the full amount or they can split it between them - for standard 20% relief, the split makes no difference to the combined total refund.

Public HSE orthodontic treatment versus private treatment

Children may be referred for orthodontic treatment through the public dental service operated by the HSE. Where treatment is provided by the public orthodontic service at no cost to the family, there is no qualifying expense to claim - the relief applies only to costs you personally paid. You cannot claim for treatment that was provided at no additional cost.

Where a family elects to have private orthodontic treatment alongside or instead of public treatment, the private fees qualify in full. If the HSE covers part of a treatment plan and the family pays a private top-up, the privately paid portion qualifies. Keep invoices clearly distinguishing the HSE-funded and privately-paid elements.

Functional appliances in early orthodontic intervention

Some children undergo early orthodontic intervention - typically between the ages of 8 and 11 - using removable functional appliances designed to guide jaw development before the permanent teeth have fully erupted. Appliances used in this context include twin blocks, Frankel appliances, bionators, and rapid maxillary expanders. These are qualifying orthodontic treatments under Appendix 2 and the costs qualify for relief in the same way as fixed brace treatment. The orthodontist completes a Med 2 and the parent claims in the relevant year.

How to claim orthodontic treatment in your Revenue record

After the end of the relevant tax year, log in to your Revenue record at revenue.ie. Navigate to your Revenue record → review the tax position position position and select the relevant year. Under Health Expenses, enter the total qualifying amount paid in that year. You do not submit the Med 2 or receipts at this stage - they are retained by you for six years in case Revenue requests them. Revenue will process the claim and apply 20% relief to the qualifying dental amount entered, adjusting your tax position for the relevant year and issuing any refund due to your bank account.

Tax Scenarios

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• ✗Not asking for a Med 2 form at the time of treatment - request it at the start of your orthodontic treatment plan rather than retrospectively. Dentists are required under Revenue guidance to complete the Med 2, but it is far easier to obtain contemporaneously.
• ✗Claiming the full multi-year treatment cost in year one when payments are spread across multiple years - claim only the amount actually paid in each tax year. Each year has its own Health Expenses return in your Revenue record.
• ✗Assuming public HSE orthodontic treatment qualifies - only costs you personally paid to a private provider generate a qualifying expense. HSE-funded treatment has no out-of-pocket cost and therefore nothing to claim.
• ✗Forgetting to claim for retainers placed after active orthodontic treatment ends - fixed or removable retainers qualify separately in the year they are fitted and paid for, as they form part of the non-routine dental treatment plan.
• ✗Not deducting health insurance reimbursements - if your insurer contributed toward the orthodontic cost, only the out-of-pocket balance qualifies as a health expense. Claiming the gross treatment cost is an overclaim.

When This Does Not Apply

Key Takeaways

• ➤ ➤ Orthodontic treatment is in Appendix 2 - it qualifies for 20% income tax relief.
• ➤ ➤ Fixed braces, clear aligners, and retainers all qualify equally.
• ➤ ➤ Get the Med 2 from your orthodontist at the start of treatment - do not wait until the end.
• ➤ ➤ Claim in each year you make payments if the treatment plan spans multiple years.
• ➤ ➤ Backdate up to four years if you have not previously claimed.
• ➤ ➤ MyTaxRebate handles multi-year orthodontic claims - from confirming the Med 2 is complete to submitting each year's qualifying payments - at no upfront cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides

• Complete guide to non-routine dental tax relief
• Med 2 form: how to get it and what it must say
• Crowns, root canal and dental veneers tax relief
• Complete guide to medical expenses relief
• How MyTaxRebate processes medical claims quickly - what happens after you apply