Metric · Self-pay
Dental public coverage: market comparison
What public (social or national) health insurance pays for in dental care; short text, original scope noted
Dental Market Radar Editorial Team · Updated · Data as of
Taiwan: NHI (single-payer, universal) covers dentistry as a listed service: extraction, operative dentistry, scaling, root canal and periodontal treatment, delivered through a dental outpatient global budget (paid since 1998 phase-in, universal from 2002). Patient pays a flat NT$50 copayment per dental visit at any level of institution, with no referral rule and no drug copayment for dental visits. Cosmetic and non-therapeutic items (including dentures per the NHI Act exclusion list) are outside NHI; no NHI coverage of implants or clear aligners was found in the sources read. in 2024, according to NHIA NHI Annual Report 2023-2024.
Key points
- Taiwan: NHI (single-payer, universal) covers dentistry as a listed service: extraction, operative dentistry, scaling, root canal and periodontal treatment, delivered through a dental outpatient global budget (paid since 1998 phase-in, universal from 2002). Patient pays a flat NT$50 copayment per dental visit at any level of institution, with no referral rule and no drug copayment for dental visits. Cosmetic and non-therapeutic items (including dentures per the NHI Act exclusion list) are outside NHI; no NHI coverage of implants or clear aligners was found in the sources read. in 2024, according to NHIA NHI Annual Report 2023-2024.
- Japan: Universal public insurance covers a wide range of dental treatment with copayment by age (30% ages 6-69 for most insured; 20% pre-school children and 70-74; 10% 75+; 30% for high-income elderly). Implants, orthodontics and newer-material restorations are generally excluded. Oral appliances for sleep apnoea are reimbursed on physician referral (FY2018 fee schedule). in 2020, according to International Dental Journal Global Neglect of Dental Coverage in Universal Health Coverage Systems and Japan’s Broad Coverage.
- South Korea: National Health Insurance (NHI) covers: (1) scaling once per calendar year for insured persons and dependants aged 19+ (when scaling is the sole purpose; further scaling in the same year is non-covered); (2) for insured persons and dependants aged 65+, clasp-retained partial dentures, resin complete dentures and metal complete dentures (replacement once per 7 years, with exceptions) at 30% copayment (5% near-poor rare/intractable disease, 15% near-poor chronic disease); (3) for insured persons and dependants aged 65+, dental implants for partial edentulism, up to 2 implants per lifetime, 30% copayment (NHIS implant Q&A: bone grafting and other ancillary surgery is non-covered; complete edentulism is excluded and handled under dentures; the Q&A describes PFM crowns, and later zirconia coverage was not verified here). Coverage of other dental care (fillings, extractions, endodontics, orthodontics, cosmetic) was not captured in the sources fetched. in 2024, according to NHIS health insurance webzine, April 2024.
Cite this
Dental Market Radar (dentalmarketradar.com), Dental public coverage comparison, https://dentalmarketradar.com/metrics/dental-public-coverage/
Permanent URL: https://dentalmarketradar.com/metrics/dental-public-coverage/. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Definition
What public (social or national) health insurance pays for in dental care; short text, original scope noted Unit: text. Category: Self-pay.
Comparison table
The headline record leads where one is designated; its basis (for example practising or licensed) and comparability rating are shown next to every value. Per-capita values use the denominator named in the calculation (World Bank total population, same year). Money is shown in US$ at the market exchange rate with local currency beside it.
Comparability notes
A: same definition as the metric. B: close to the metric definition; the difference is noted. C: different basis; use with caution when comparing.
- Taiwan: What NHI pays for in dental care and patient copayment
- Japan: Scope of Japan statutory health insurance for dental care
- South Korea: 건강보험 급여: items covered by the National Health Insurance benefit schedule (급여), as opposed to non-covered (비급여) items paid fully by the patient.
- Singapore: Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) dental subsidies, administered by AIC for MOH
- Malaysia: Publicly funded MOH dental services; School Dental Programme offers free dental check-ups and treatment with parental consent
- Thailand: UCS dental services delivered by private dental clinics registered as NHSO service units
- Vietnam: Luật Bảo hiểm y tế (Law on Health Insurance) as amended by Law 51/2024/QH15, effective 1 July 2025
- Australia: Public funding of dental care in Australia (Commonwealth CDBS plus state/territory public dental services)
- New Zealand: Public funding of dental care in New Zealand (Health NZ)
- Saudi Arabia: Public (MOH) dental service delivery plus a summary of the insurance arrangement
- United Arab Emirates: What mandatory/public cover pays for dental care, by emirate
- Qatar: Public dental service delivery
What does Dental public coverage measure?
What public (social or national) health insurance pays for in dental care; short text, original scope noted Unit: text.
How many markets have data for dental public coverage?
12 of 12 markets have a sourced value for dental public coverage.