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How much do dental services cost in Germany? What are the prices of fillings, crowns, implants – and who bears what costs? Here are the answers to Deutsche Welle.
For many Germans, dental services are an expensive pleasure. If at all the word pleasure is appropriate here. This area, of course, falls within the scope of compulsory health insurance, but health insurance funds reimburse the costs only for the basic and most necessary types of dentistry – that is, for the cheapest dental services.
To a dentist in Germany: how much does it cost, who pays?
In private insurance companies, the range of services that are reimbursed is relatively wide. But more than 70 million Germans are insured with state health insurance funds, and about 25 million German citizens have concluded the so-called. additional health insurance, which in most cases is dental insurance. The monthly installment for this additional insurance ranges between 5 and 60 euros, depending on the patient’s age, the condition of his teeth and the range of services. Now let’s see what the prices are for the average patient in Germany.
Twice a year, Germans are entitled to a free preventive examination. Moreover, the state health insurance funds insist on conducting these examinations on a regular basis. To motivate patients, they have even created a special bonus system, which we will describe below. The patient also receives a type of passport in which the dentist notes each preventive examination. The data from this document are necessary when it is necessary to place a prosthesis, for example.
Once a year, the health insurance funds cover the costs of cleaning the tartar, and once every two years they pay for the tests for periodontitis. Professional teeth cleaning, which includes the removal of pigment deposits, polishing and strengthening of tooth enamel, is not included in the list of services, the costs of which must be reimbursed by the state health insurance funds. Some of them still cover an hour of expenses. Professional cleaning costs between 80 and 100 euros, and the price depends on the condition of the teeth.
Health insurance funds also pay for caries removal, root canal treatment, X-rays, tooth extraction and local anesthesia. All these procedures are free for the insured patient. Things are a little more complicated with the seals. Amalgam fillings are free. And if the patient is allergic to amalgam, the health insurance fund covers the cost of another type of filling. Amalgam fillings are prohibited for pregnant and lactating women, as well as for children under 15 years of age. Health insurance funds also pay for the materials used for temporary fillings. In the case of microprostheses (for example made of ceramics or gold), the health insurance funds cover only a part of the costs – usually between 25 and 40 euros, which is the value of the amalagama. The same scheme applies to fillings made of more expensive materials. The approximate price of artificial fillings is between 70 and 100 euros, while the price of ceramic fillings can reach 1,000 euros.
One of the most expensive dental services in Germany is prosthetics. The costs borne by the state health insurance funds are precisely fixed, and the amount depends on the general condition of the teeth and the type of prosthesis. Typically, state health funds pay 50 percent of the cost of standard dentures.
The dentist first prepares a treatment plan, calculating the possible costs. All this must be submitted by the patient to the health insurance fund, which in turn must approve the specified costs in advance. And here it is time to return to the above mentioned bonus system. If during the last five years the patient has regularly gone for free preventive examinations, the health insurance fund pays not 50 but 60 percent of the value of the standard prosthesis. After ten years, the share has risen to as much as 65 percent. Excluding the amount recovered from the cash register, a metal crown costs between 250 and 400 euros, a metal-ceramic crown costs between 400 and 600 euros, and a ceramic crown costs between 700 and 1,000 euros. The preliminary treatment plan prepared by the dentist is important not only for the health insurance fund, but also for the patient himself, because that way he knows exactly what costs await him.
Where is the cheapest?
The prices of the dental services are fixed in a special catalog. As explained to us by the German Union of Dentists working with the state health insurance funds, the cost of services includes the duration, purpose and degree of complexity of treatment, as well as the prices of the materials used. Dentists are obliged to adhere to this price list, which, however, provides for certain deviations.
According to the insurance company Ergo Direkt, dental services in Germany also depend on geography – in the eastern part of the country, the prices of dental services are significantly lower than in the western provinces. The cheapest is dentistry in Schwerin. Tariffs in Freiburg, Magdeburg and Cottbus are also relatively low. Dentures and crowns are the most expensive in Munich, and Stuttgart is the most expensive city for bridges and implants.
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