Among the four jurisdictions with universal public dental coverage for older adults (England, France, Sweden and Germany), there is expanded coverage for specific subgroups of the population that are considered vulnerable (see Table. Slovenia has free basic stuff, as mentioned in another post here. Dental calculus removal, which is part of scaling and root planning treatment, also presents a very effective preventive intervention (primary and secondary) for periodontal disease. If you don't currently have insurance, don't worry, you can still save on your dental care with us.
In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a single-payer system, dental services were initially covered by the National Health Service. The top-ranked countries for dental care have highly accessible and affordable dental care and populations that show that they value their oral hygiene and dental care routines. The role of different incentive models for preventive oral health services and the extent to which evidence on (cost-effectiveness) guides decisions on dental benefit baskets to guide future policy formulation should also be further explored. As a result, patients incur OOP costs, since dental assistants' services are only covered if they are employed at a contracted facility.
In Germany, with comparatively broad coverage for dental care in general, dental cleanings are not covered by compulsory health insurance, while in Slovakia (which has more limited coverage) social health insurance covers periodontal probing and dental calculus removal. Interestingly, there are large variations in periodontal probing coverage and dental calculus removal (which is part of periodontal treatment to prevent disease progression). In several countries, supplemental VHI seems to play an important role in reimbursing dental treatments that are not covered or only partially covered, including prosthodontic treatment. The results of the vignettes reveal that legal coverage of dental care varies in 11 European countries, but the barriers to access are largely similar.
In low- and middle-income countries, dental treatment has been found to be a major source of catastrophic health expenditures. According to the results, legal coverage of dental care varies between European countries, while barriers to access are largely similar. Disparities in oral health are particularly marked in high-income countries, such as the United States, where low-income adults face structural and economic obstacles to accessing basic preventive and restorative dental services. In general, there is the mutual learning potential of existing incentive plans that focus on preventive care, as well as benefit plans that cover dental care more comprehensively.
In Ireland, one scale and one polish per year up to 42 euros is covered for those who contributed to social insurance in the last three years (Dental Treatment Benefit Plan (DTBS)), which accounts for almost half of the population. Regular dental check-ups seem to be less extensively covered in all countries than the acute care visit at Vignette 1.
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