[Reimbursement of public dental care in Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary and Poland]. / A fogászati ellátás finanszírozása Németországban, az Egyesült Királyságban, Magyarországon és Lengyelországban.

INTRODUCTION: Dental treatments have the highest rate among medical interventions and their reimbursement is also significant. AIM: The aim of the study was to compare the outcome of the reformed healthcare system process on public dental services in four European countries. METHOD: Assessment base for the comparison of reimbursement of dental treatments and dental fee schedules provided by the health insurance funds were used. The following indicators were examined: the ratio of public dental services and the main oral health indicators. Among dental fee schedules, reimbursement of general dental activity, prevention, operative dentistry, endodontic and oral surgery were selected. RESULTS: The lowest value of population to active dentist ratio was found in Germany (population to active dentist ratio: 1247) and the highest in Hungary (population to active dentist ratio: 2020). Oral health indicators showed significant differences between the West-European and East-European countries. On the other hand, the ratio of completely edentulous people at the age of 65yrs did not show great variations. Reimbursement of public dental treatments indicated significantly higher value in Germany and the United Kingdom compared to the other countries. CONCLUSIONS: Reimbursement of public dental services varies considerably in the selected European countries.