The healthcare system and the provision of oral healthcare in European Union member states. Part 9: Sweden

• Published in: British dental journal 2018-04, Vol.224 (8), p.647-651
• Main Authors: Pälvärinne, R., Widström, E., Forsberg, B. C., Eaton, K. A., Birkhed, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adult; aged; child; Children; clearance; Councils; dental procedure; Dentistry; European Union; Expenditures; female; Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi; Geriatrics; Health care; health care system; Health services; Hospitals; human; male; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Odontologi; Oral Surgery & Medicine; Political parties; Population; population group; Primary care; Public health; Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology; Public sector; Regions; reimbursement; social background; Sweden; Teeth; young adult
• ISSN: 0007-0610; 1476-5373; 1476-5373
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.269

Key Points Highlights that of the clinical active dentists in Sweden, around 50% work in the public sector. Highlights that all children, up to 21 (and soon to be 24) years of age, have free oral healthcare, including all specialist treatments. Suggests the public financing of oral healthcare for adults in Sweden is generous by EU standards. Shows that most fixed prosthetics, such as crowns, bridges and implants, are reimbursed up to 85%. Equally accessible and affordable dental services for all population groups have been a political goal in Sweden for almost a century. All political parties have shared the idea that a person's social background should not have consequences for his or her dental status. Strategic tools to achieve this ambitious goal have been the wide use of publicly provided oral healthcare services, covering even sparsely populated areas, focusing on preventive care and significant subsidies for necessary treatments. Besides free care for children and young adults, oral healthcare is reimbursed from public funds. The public subsidy was particularly generous in 1975–1999 when a 'full clearance' of adults' dentitions was undertaken both by the public and private providers under fixed prices and high reimbursement levels for all treatment measures. Today, preventive oral healthcare for the elderly is given higher priority as most Swedes have been able to keep their natural teeth.