This year, only a few weeks remain for a dental preventive examination. For the next year 2023 citizens will only have fully paid health benefits in basic dental care only if they undergo a preventive examination. The exception, which did not make preventive screening a condition, was valid for the COVID-19 pandemic for the last two years.
The Ministry of Health is interested in constantly increasing the number of people undergoing preventive examinations, including dental examinations - this is the only way to improve the health of citizens and to capture early health problems and diseases, the treatment of which is easier in the early stages and at the same time less costly for the entire health system.
During the strongest pandemic of COVID-19, when hospitals were filled with patients and numbers of positive people were rising, the Ministry of Health addressed citizens and doctors. A derogation has been granted for the possible difficult availability of preventive health care during illness or home isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, in 2021 and 2022 citizens had fully paid health benefits in basic dental care, even if they did not undergo a preventive dental examination in the previous year.
Preventive medical examination by a dentist is covered by public health insurance. A doctor cannot ask for payment if he has a contract with a health insurance company. Under Law No 577/2004 on the scope of health care, insured persons under 18 and pregnant women, insured persons over 18 years of age are entitled to two preventive dental examinations per year.
Dental-medical preventive examination includes examination of dental status, mucous membranes, soft tissues of the jaw and mouth. Dental replacements are checked, the papilla bleeding index is determined, the cartilage prognosis index. The state of dental hygiene and hygiene habits is also controlled, while the doctor teaches the patient about proper dental cleaning.
In support of prevention, health insurance companies also seek to motivate their policyholders not to miss preventive checks. Preventive examinations by dentists, for example, insurance companies make the payment of dental care bonuses conditional.

Anyone who does not undergo a dental preventive examination is not entitled to treatment from public health insurance sources in the following year. Medical performances in the oral cavity are thus paid in full to the dentist according to the valid health performance price list that the dentist is required to provide. If the insured person agrees in advance to the provision of dental services or of non-refundable products on the basis of public health insurance, the insurance undertaking shall reimburse those services and products only to the extent covered by public health insurance and the difference shall be paid by the insured person.