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DENTISTRY IN SCANDINAVIA

Working as a Dentist in Sweden

In Sweden, oral healthcare is the responsibility of county government, although counties are not required to provide the services themselves. About 8% of total governmental spending on healthcare is spent on dentistry. Almost all the oral health care is provided in one of two ways. Firstly, there is a Public Dental Service (NDS) that provides free dental care to children up to the age of 19. Secondly, adults and elderly people who are not entitled to free care from the Public Dental Service can get subsidised dental care from the NDS or dentists in private practice.

The public dental service is funded by the counties. The provision of domiciliary (home) care is not very common in Sweden, and is usually provided by public health dentists. In Sweden dentists also work in hospitals as salaried employees of the counties. There are usually no restrictions on seeing patients outside the hospital. Dentists working in hospitals are employed as hospital dentists who provide conventional dental treatment to disabled or medically compromised patients. Dental treatment under general sedation and/or nitrous oxygen is also available but the sedation/anaesthesia cannot be performed by a dentist. For this, formal postgraduate training is required.

Moreover, as a dentist in Sweden, you usually work in a team with a dental hygienist. The dentist then has a supervisory function.

With a Master of Science in Dental Surgery from another EU country or from Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, you have the right to establish yourself as either self-employed or an employee. If your degree is from an EU country (other than Sweden or from Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland), the EU directive (2005/36/EC) requires member states to recognise the professional qualifications of other member states. In simple terms, if you have a title in Dental Surgery from any of the EU countries and wish to work in Sweden, it is quite easy to obtain a Swedish dentist license. One key point in obtaining this license is having certified C1 level in Swedish.

Working as a Dentist in Norway

In Norway, 90 percent of dentists work as general practitioners, either in public or private businesses. The remaining 10 percent have a specialist education.

Working as a Dentist in Norway could be quite profitable as people may only avail of free dental treatment up to the age of 18, and then they take out private health insurance because the fee can be quite high for highly specialised or complicated dental treatments. Authorisation and license as a dentist are granted by the Directorate of Health (before 2016: National Agency for the Authorization of Healthcare).

Professionals are required to hold a Master of Dentistry or an equivalent foreign education. Dentists work in the public dental service or conduct private practice. The business is managed by the county municipality.

In Norway, there are seven approved specialities within dentistry:

  • Periodontics
  • Dentures
  • Oral surgery and oral medicine
  • Pedodontics
  • Orthodontics
  • Oral prosthetics
  • Facial and jaw radiology

Working as a Dentist in Denmark

In Denmark, dentists work within private practice (either employed or self-employed) or within the public sector at a Danish public dental clinic.

Denmark is characterised by having a preventive dental care. Therefore, general dentists/dental surgeries are the most visited. Moreover, the Danish healthcare system is based on the principle of equal access to the healthcare system’s services for all citizens. The government pays a portion of dental costs according to the age of the people. Dentists in Denmark usually work in a team with dental assistants and hygienists.

Further, if you are a specialist dentist, you can also work as a specialist in dental, oral and jaw surgery, which deals with the diagnosis and treatment of facial trauma, benign disorders and infectious conditions in the teeth of the mouth and jaws, as well as congenital, growth and acquired malformations as well as diseases of the oral cavity and the jaw/facial regions.

In order to practice as a Dentist in Denmark, you will need to obtain a Danish authorisation, and you will also need to apply for a work permit, including for evaluation employment.

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Before you register, please go through the list of requirements below:

• To have a medical specialization. 

• To be an EU citizen OR have long-term residency in any of the EU member countries.

If you are not an EU citizen and/or your title are not from EU countries:

• Your title must be recognised in any of the EU member countries.

• You must have worked at least 3 years in any of the EU member countries AFTER your title had been recognized.