A platform has been opened for applying for a “dentist’s pass” – free preventive dental care for children from 6 to 12 years old, which is offered by the Ministry of Health for the first time in our country. Beneficiaries can apply through gov.gr (https://vouchers.gov.gr/dentistpass) as well as KEP to make an appointment with their dentist.

Specifically, the Dentist Pass includes: checking oral hygiene, cleaning and removing plaque, fluoridation and providing instructions on children’s oral hygiene.

It is available to any child between the ages of 6 and 12 (children born between 2011 and 2016) who has an AMKA or temporary alien health and insurance number.

Valid for six months from activation

The digital card will be valid for 6 months from the date of its activation, and the amount of financial support is 40 euros per child.

Hellenic Dental Federation President Thanasis Devliotis said the digital dentist card should be the first step towards meeting the needs of the entire population.

“Prevention is always better than cure. The Dentist Pass has been a constant request of the Federation and is funded by the Recovery Fund and supported by thousands of dentists across the country. Our goal is to make it permanent, with funds outside the Recovery Fund. I am sure that this will help all Greek families in this difficult financial situation. We should note that because of the pandemic, the oral health of young children is being neglected. In any case, we hope that the digital dental card will be the first step towards meeting the needs of the entire population, at least in the delicate area of ​​prevention, since oral health is inextricably linked to overall health and quality of life and care for it is the right of patients and duty of the state,” he said.

More than half a million children will have access to a dentist

For his part, the Secretary General of the Hellenic Dental Federation, Dimitris Kittas, stressed that the goal of the dental community is to strengthen and expand the “dentist’s pass” provided in the future to other age groups.

Preventive dental care should begin in early childhood. By building a trusting relationship with the dentist from an early age, the child learns the ways and habits of maintaining oral health and adopts the concept of prevention throughout their adult life.

More than half a million children aged 6 to 12 will be able to visit the dentist of their choice in the coming months. Some of them, perhaps for the first time as part of the provided package, will be examined, given oral hygiene instructions, painless fluoridation and teeth cleanings.

Thanks to funding from the Recovery Fund and the support of the Hellenic Dental Federation, as well as the offer of thousands of dentists in our country, we welcome for the first time a package of preventive dental care, Dentist Pass. The clear goal for the dental community is to provide Dentist Pass assistance, which will be consolidated and expanded in the future to other age groups, covering a wider range of therapeutic and restorative dental procedures, always in consultation with sector institutions.