72 percent of Danes do not
Dentists across the country are increasingly experiencing that patients refuse the academically optimal treatment because they cannot afford it.
In a new study from the Dental Association, 72 percent of dentists say that they have patients who say no to the necessary treatment daily or several times a week. That’s an increase from 2023, when the figure was 69 percent.
The study was conducted with the participation of 260 dental clinics, and the figures concern the dental association chairman Torben Schønwaldt.
– It is very worrying that patients must say no to the necessary dental treatment. Imagine if 70 percent of practitioners saw their patients turned around in the door for financial reasons. That scenario is inconceivable in a Danish context where you do not have to pay with the doctor. But if the disease is in your mouth, you have to pay for yourself, says Torben Schønwaldt, chairman of the Dental Association, Torben Schønwaldt.
More Danes fail to go to the dentist
Every third Dane does not go to the dentist regularly. It shows figures from the Danish Regions and Statistics Denmark. Torben Schønwaldt warns that dental disease and infection in the mouth can be free to run and develop into major dental problems if there is too long between the dental visits.
– It is deeply worrying that so many Danes do not come to a dentist regularly. And when several of the patients who actually show up at the dentist cannot pay for the treatment, then there are a lot of people who do not get the treatment they need, says Torben Schønwaldt.
