Market and customers
In Sweden, the majority of dental care is performed by general practitioners, and those are the primary source of referrals to specialist dentistry. The waiting time to get specialist dentistry treatment is in many counties very long, and patients have to wait for treatment.
In Sweden, the majority of doctors are trained in specialisms, whilst the corresponding figure for dentists is only 11%. Most dental care procedures are carried out by general practitioners, if necessary with the support and assistance of specialists. Specialist dental care has an important role to play for patient safety and quality in dentistry. Most referrals for specialist dental care come from general practitioners. Their expertise and training largely dictate the need for specialist dentists.
In June 2008, there was a big change in Sweden and the Government's dental reforms in which the entire compensation system for dental care was remade. The impact on the market is still not entirely clear, however, a trend seems to be somewhat patient's mean age decreases. It is clear that the current system where preliminary trials of the therapy plan is no longer made of Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) put on more responsibility on the individual dentist.
Dental health in Sweden improved dramatically during the latter part of the 20th century. However, there are still people who have serious care requirements. There has been no improvement in the dental health of this group of people, in fact there are signs that it has gotten worse. The proportion of elderly people in the population who still have their own teeth is gradually increasing, and surveys have shown that there has been a significant reduction of the number of people with dentures since 1965. At that time, approximately 23% of the entire population had dentures, 37% had both their own teeth and dentures and just over 1% had none of their own teeth nor used dentures. Today, only around 3% of people have dentures, 6% have both their own teeth and dentures and 0.3% have neither their own teeth nor dentures.
In Sweden, the majority of specialist dentists are employed by the public dental service. Within Swedish specialist dentistry, the public dental service occupies a very strong position, due in no small part to the Swedish dentistry act. This states that the public dental service shall provide specialist dental care for children and young people and also be obliged to offer specialist dental care for adults resident within the area covered by the local authority. In many local authority areas, the waiting time
for specialist dental care is currently long, forcing patients to wait for procedures that are very important for their day-to-day functions, quality of life and general well-being.