It is The dental journal which, with figures from the Social Insurance Agency, mapped the density of dentists in the counties and the number of dentists in each municipality.
At the county level, it is Dalarna that stands out, with only 54 dentists per 100,000 adult inhabitants. The shortage has been noticeable for several years, and means that everyone who wants to go to the dentist cannot get an appointment, according to Folktandvården in Dalarna. Östergötland has the country’s next lowest density of dentists: 62 per 100,000 adult inhabitants.
Not surprisingly, the county of Stockholm has the highest density of dentists, with 93 dentists per 100,000 inhabitants.
Years of waiting
In Dalarna, Gävleborg, Jämtland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten counties there are several municipalities that have no dentists at all, or only a single one. This applies, for example, to Vansbro, Ockelbo, Härjedalen, Vilhelmina and Pajala.
In Norrbotten, Folktandvården concentrates solely on child and youth dental care, as well as dental care for the elderly and disabled. Dental care for other adults is offered “as time permits”. In Jämtland, new adult patients must be prepared to wait “for several years” for an appointment at certain clinics, according to dental care director Stefan Stjernström.
Widening gap
Even some municipalities in the southern part of the country lack or only have a dentist, for example Boxholm, Uppvidinge and Mellerud.
“If you cannot get to dental care when needed, there is a risk that the gap between the healthy and the sick in society will increase,” says Elisabeth Wärnberg Gerdin, president of the Swedish Community Dental Association, to Tandläkartidningen.
Försäkringskassan’s statistics are based on the number of general dentists (private and regional employees) with at least 100 measures within state dental care support in 2021.