Only 39 % of citizens go to review at least once a year, while 34 % do so when they have a problem
68 % of Spaniards admit that it limits their visits to the dentist for economic reasons, according to a report by the IDIS Foundation. This data is directly related to the low public investment in oral health, which barely represents 2 % of total health expenditure in Spain, well below the average 31 % in the European Union. The limited coverage of the National Health System forces the population to resort to private services for more complete treatments.
The report denounces that the public system lacks a coherent structure and planning in oral health, limited to basic interventions such as extractions and prints, aimed only to specific groups such as Children, pregnant women, oncological patients and people with disabilities. This generates significant inequalities in access to oral care for the rest of the population.
Only 39 % of citizens visit the dentist at least once a year, while 34 % do it only when they have a problem. The director of the IDIS Foundation, Marta Villanueva, underlines the importance of promoting prevention: “We detect an imperative need to generate culture and knowledge, to teach the population that beyond aesthetics, everything that happens in the mouth happens to our body.”
Worrying figures
Although Spain enjoys one of the lowest figures of medical needs not covered in Europe (1 %), the percentage is triggered in the oral scope, reaching a worrying 12 %, well above the European average. This data highlights disparity in coverage between general health and oral health.
The average expenditure per house in oral health is 219 euros per year, although it varies significantly between regions: Madrid spend 319 euros on average, while Valencians only 148. “Those inequalities reflect differences in purchasing power and in access to regions help programs,” Villanueva explained.
Problems
The problems derived from this situation are visible: almost 40 % of children suffer from caries in their temporary teeth, 30 % of those over 65 suffer periodontal disease and only 26.7 % of the population maintain all their dental pieces. Although dental insurance has gained presence, their adoption remains low, representing only 3 % of health premiums. Meanwhile, private spending on oral health amounts to more than 3.6 billion euros, well above the scarce 77 million that the public system invests.
