Statistics provided by the Contact Point for Cross-Border Health Care in Finland and Kela (the Social Insurance Institution of Finland) include information on number of resolutions and reimbursements for seeking dental care independently abroad.

1. Statistical information from Finland 2021 :
Seeking dental care independently abroad
June 20, 2022

2. Table of content
1. Background information and instructions for reading
the statistics
2. Resolutions and reimbursements for seeking dental
care independently abroad
3. TOP 5 countries: seeking dental care independently
4. Seeking dental care independently in Estonia
5. Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare in
Finland
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3. 1. Background information and instructions for reading
the statistics
• Seeking treatment independently means that the customer has travelled
abroad with the purpose of receiving treatment and they do not have prior
authorisation pursuant to EU regulations.
• Kela reimburses the costs of seeking treatment independently if the
treatment has been provided in an EU or EEA country or in Switzerland.
Treatment costs are reimbursed in the same manner as treatment given in
Finnish private health care.
• The statistics are compiled according to the resolution date. Reimbursement
must be sought within half a year of paying the costs. Therefore, the
treatment relating to the statistics may have been given the year before.
The statistics are also affected by the application processing status of Kela.
• The statistics only present the cases where customers have applied for
reimbursement for care provided.
• More information at Kela website: Seeking treatment abroad
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4. 2. Resolutions and reimbursements for seeking
dental care independently abroad
Year Number of resolutions Paid reimbursements €
2021 1915 90,935.37
2020 3407 162,092.49
2019 4171 203,930.34
2018 5816 280,954.59
2017 6361 304,717.66
Source: Kela
• The dental care figures only include the costs of dentist’s fees, not the
costs of examinations and treatments prescribed by the dentist.
• The number of resolutions means the number of decisions given to
customers. Kela does not keep statistics of the numbers of people.
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5. 3. Top 5 countries: seeking dental care
independently
Year 2021
Country Number of
resolutions
Paid
reimbursements
€
1. Estonia 1699 81,114.10
2. Spain 101 4,286.00
3. Poland 23 1,115.50
4. Germany 18 541.53
5. Latvia 9 326.00
Year 2020
Country Number of
resolutions
Paid
reimbursements
€
1. Estonia 2970 139,919.87
2. Spain 253 10,331.11
3. Hungary 42 3192.00
4. Poland 24 1676.72
5. Latvia 19 1109.90
Source: Kela
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6. 4. Seeking dental care independently in Estonia
Year Number of
resolutions
Paid reimbursements
€
2021 1 699 81,114.10
2020 2 970 139,919.87
2019 3 597 173,739.2
2018 5 008 235,405.39
2017 5 550 260,739.07
Source: Kela
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7. 5. Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare in
Finland
The Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare provides advice on using
health services in Finland and abroad. Each EU country has a contact point.
In Finland, the contact point is located within Kela.
The Contact Point provides service online and by e-mail:
• EUterveydenhoito.fi
• EU-hälsovård.fi
• EU-healthcare.fi
• EU-dearvvašvuođadikšun.fi
• EU-terveydenhoito.fi in Finnish sign language
• EU-hälsovård.fi in Finland-Swedish sign language
• Email: yhteyspiste(at)kela.fi
The Contact Point is also on:
• Twitter: @rajayhteyspiste
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rajayhteyspiste/
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