FOCUS
FOCUS
Malta
Oral Healthcare
Infodent International | 2 2020
Only 1.1% of the population reports feeling unable to access needed medical and dental care because either too expensive, too far to travel or due to waiting lists; despite elective dental services are not being covered for all persons under the public healthcare system.
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Dental care in Malta is provided by both private and public dental services. However, most oral healthcare is provided in wholly private practice and patients pay directly, mostly out-of-pocket, for the dental treatment received. Public dental services are provided in health centers and dental departments at the main hospitals, Mater Dei (approx. 26 dentists, figures from 2013) and Gozo General Hospital (approx. 2 dentists, figures from 2013) where only diagnostic, preventive and emergency care is provided together with minor and major oral surgery, under local or general anesthesia, free of charge to all patients. Some services, such as restorative dentistry and prosthetics (mainly acrylic dentures) are provided only to patients in low-income brackets (means tested). The public service also offers comprehensive free treatment to all children below the age of 16, including orthodontic care (which includes any form of removable appliance therapy) while fixed appliance therapy is provided for free to those children who are considered as high priority, such as cleft lip and palate patients, patients with hypodontia and those pa-
tients about to undergo orthognathic surgery. There is no payment for any treatment carried out by the public dental service. Private practice contributes significantly and private medical insurance (VHI schemes) only covers limited procedures, such as surgical extractions. Private fees are fully “free market� and they are determined in agreements between dentists and their patients. It is not possible to identify the proportion of expenditure on oral healthcare that is private. The normal frequency for routine oral examinations is, on average, 6 months. A Mobile Dental Unit was set up in 2015 by the University of Malta in collaboration with the Dental Public Health Unit (government)
with the main intention of visiting different localities in Malta and Gozo and providing free dental check-ups and personalized advice to the population. The Mobile Dental Unit is also used for data collection for the National Oral Health Survey. In 2015, the Dental Clinic at St Vincent de Paul Residence was refurbished as part of an agreement signed between the University of Malta and the Ministry for Health, as part of the initiative to further increase the provision of services. In addition, the Dental Public Health Unit is striving to update standards for dental clinics to ensure that they provide a minimal standard with regards to quality of care and ensure the provision of safe dental health practice.
Malta Italy
Spain
UK
Germany
Density of physicians (per 1000 population) 2007-2016
3.9
4.0
3.9
2.8
4.2
Density of dentistry personnel (per 1000 population) 2007-2016
0.5
0.8
0.7
0.5
0.9
Source: World Health Statistics 2018, WHO