The investigator Martin Färnsten has now submitted his proposals on how to strengthen today's high-cost protection in dental care to make it more similar to what exists in healthcare.
No human being should have to refrain from social gatherings because they cannot afford to go to the dentist. It is not worthy of Sweden, says Social Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD).
Introduced Gradually
Initially, the focus is on better high-cost protection for the elderly with the poorest oral health. However, the assignment has also been to develop a model that can be scaled up to the entire population.
The investigator proposes a model that will be introduced gradually based on age and need. The model is called ten-percentage dental care – the patient pays 10 percent of the reference price for a treatment.
For a regular procedure such as repairing or extracting a tooth, the cost will be between 100 and 400 kronor per procedure according to the investigator's proposal.
More Expensive for the State
In the first step, where only the elderly are covered, the state's cost is estimated to increase by between 3.4 and 4.5 billion kronor per year.
When fully implemented, when the entire population from the age of 20 is covered, the state's cost for dental care is estimated to increase by between 7.7 and 9.9 billion kronor per year.
However, the Social Minister cannot say when the system will be fully implemented.
The dental care reform is part of the Tidö Agreement. The parties have already preceded the investigation by earmarking 3.4 billion kronor for strengthened high-cost protection for those who have turned 67 from 2026. Additionally, free dental care for young people aged 19-23 will be introduced next year as part of the financing.
Abolished Special Rule
According to the Tidö Agreement, the special rule that allows asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants to receive acute dental care for 50 kronor will also be abolished. However, since international directives provide the right to acute dental care, and most individuals in this group cannot pay the dentist's bill with their own means, the investigation proposes that those affected should be able to seek economic assistance instead.
Our assessment is that this will result in slightly higher administrative costs for the public sector than the current arrangement. As for the individuals concerned, we estimate that they will consume dental care to a lesser extent than today, leading to poorer oral health, says investigator Martin Färnsten.
Jakob Forssmed says that the proposal will now be analyzed.
But we have an agreement in the Tidö Agreement to remove this type of special rule. We will prepare and see how we take these proposals further, he says.
Strengthened dental care compensation. Called ten-percentage dental care because the patient pays ten percent of the reference price. Affects in the first step people who are 67 years old and older.
Examinations and preventive measures are not covered by ten-percentage dental care.
Cost for ten-percentage dental care for 67-year-olds and older: 3.4-4.5 billion kronor per year. Cost for ten-percentage dental care for all adults (20 years and older): 7.7-9.9 billion kronor per year.
The special rules for adult asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants, with a fee of 50 kronor for dental care that cannot wait, are abolished. Those who cannot afford to pay the cost themselves will instead receive economic assistance.
Source: SOU 2024:70
