Two dentists have won high court injunctions preventing the HSE from changing their contracts by slashing entitlements in the free dental scheme for medical card holders.

The HSE recently announced that this scheme would in future restrict medical card holders to emergency care and oral examinations only.

However, the High Court has ruled that the changes cannot be implemented pending the outcome of the dentists' full court action.

The dentists, Martin Reid and James Turner, have claimed that the HSE's move breaches their contracts with the health executive and would have a major effect on their incomes.

The Irish Dental Association (IDA) has welcomed the decision by the High Court.

It said if the HSE was allowed to proceed to restrict the medical card dental scheme to one which only provides limited emergency dental treatment for patients, this will have a devastating impact on the 1.6 million people who hold medical cards.