Dental Care in Sweden: Costs, Free Care and State Support

Swedish dental care is free for children and young people up to a set age. After that you pay the clinic yourself, and the state deducts its share from the bill. That share is called statligt tandvårdsstöd, and it works differently from the patient fees at a vårdcentral, the primary care health centre. This guide explains the whole system before any detail: who runs it, who it covers, and how its layers fit together.

Readers Covered and Readers Excluded

This guide is for every adult and young person who lives in Sweden and wants to know what a dental visit costs and what the state pays towards it. That includes people who have just received a personnummer, the Swedish personal identity number, people who have moved here to live or work but are not yet registered, and parents of children under 20.

It is not for visitors. The state support is for people insured in Sweden; for a trip, start from planning a trip to Sweden. It also does not cover people who are asylum seekers or undocumented, who have a separate and much narrower rule, summarised in the section before Sources.

Insured in Sweden and Aged 20 or Older: Prerequisites

Before any figure applies, you need to meet the test in the law. The state support requires you to be insured in Sweden for residence-based benefits (bosättningsbaserade förmåner), or to have the right to Swedish care under the EU coordination rules while living in another EU/EEA country (lag 2008:145, 1 kap. 5 §). Försäkringskassan's general line on insurance is broader: "Du är försäkrad i Sverige om du bor eller arbetar här." (As of October 2026, per Försäkringskassan.) For the dental support, residence is what counts.

For most residents, that test is met through folkbokföring, the Skatteverket address registration that comes with a personnummer. The regional health portal 1177 puts it this way: if you are folkbokförd in Sweden, you can take part in the state dental support from the year you turn 20 (1177).

Residence is the test, and folkbokföring is how most people show it. If you work here without being resident, for example on an assignment of a year or less, you are usually not covered unless EU rules apply. If the dentist is unsure whether you are insured, Försäkringskassan sends you the form "Uppgifter vid flytt till eller arbete i Sverige". It then investigates whether you are insured, and if you are, you have the right to the support.

People granted uppehållstillstånd med tillfälligt skydd (temporary protection, the status given to people from Ukraine under the EU Temporary Protection Directive) are covered by a separate point in the same paragraph: support can be paid if the patient "har beviljats uppehållstillstånd med tillfälligt skydd, eller uppehållstillstånd efter tillfälligt skydd" and falls under a region's responsibility. That point ends on 31 December 2026. The version of 1 kap. 5 § in force from 1 January 2027 (Lag 2024:697) drops it, and from then only the residence and EU routes above remain.

The clinic must also be ansluten, meaning connected to the state dental scheme that Försäkringskassan runs. Försäkringskassan says Folktandvården, the regions' public dental service, and most private dentists are connected, but not all. When you book, ask whether the clinic is ansluten. If you are still waiting for your registration, see seeing a doctor before your personnummer arrives for how the healthcare side behaves in that gap, and registering at a vårdcentral once it arrives.

Regions, Försäkringskassan and TLV: Who Does What

Three bodies matter, and each does a different job.

The law behind the state support is lag (2008:145) om statligt tandvårdsstöd. The law says it contains rules on "ersättning till vårdgivare för utförd tandvård", which means payment to the care provider for dental work done (Riksdagen).

That detail explains how the support feels in practice. You do not apply for it and you do not receive money. Your dentist or dental hygienist deducts it from your bill, and Försäkringskassan pays the clinic (Försäkringskassan).

You can choose any dentist you like, anywhere in Sweden, in Folktandvården or at a private clinic (1177).

Layers by Age: Free Care, Statligt Tandvårdsstöd and Särskild Ersättning

TLV describes two separate supports. The statligt tandvårdsstöd is aimed at the whole adult population. Alongside it, tandvård till hälso- och sjukvårdsavgift is financed by the regions for adults with special needs (as of 7 July 2026, per TLV). Together with free care for young people, the age layers are:

The sections below take each layer in turn.

Free Dental Care Until the Year You Turn 19

As of October 2026, 1177 states the rule directly: "Fram till och med det år du fyller 19 år är din tandvård avgiftsfri." You begin to pay for your own dental care on 1 January of the year you turn 20 (1177). The rule is national law: tandvårdslag (1985:125) 7 § 1 gives "regelbunden och fullständig tandvård för personer till och med det år då de fyller 19 år", and 15 a § makes that care free. TLV repeats it: "Alla barn och ungdomar har fri tandvård till och med det år de fyller 19", meaning all children and young people have free dental care up to and including the year they turn 19 (as of 7 July 2026, per TLV).

The rule counts calendar years, not birthdays. A child who turns 19 in December and one who turns 19 in January both stay inside the free group until 31 December of that year.

The limit was 23 in every region until a national change on 1 January 2025 (tandvårdslag 7 § 1, amended by SFS 2024:1099). 1177 Skåne: "1 januari 2025 sänktes åldersgränsen för gratis tandvård från 23 år till 19 år." Treatment that started before 2025 stays under the old rules: 1177 Skåne says treatment begun by the end of 2024, and orthodontics with a payment guarantee issued by 31 December 2024, stays free if completed "senast det år du fyller 23 år".

The same 1177 Skåne page covers choice of clinic. If a family makes no active choice, the child is listed automatically at the Folktandvården unit nearest the folkbokföring address (1177 Skåne). If your child lives elsewhere, check the page of your own region on 1177.

Allmänt Tandvårdsbidrag: Amounts and Rules by Age

The allmänt tandvårdsbidrag (ATB) is a small yearly amount that the state gives every insured adult. Försäkringskassan says you receive it "från och med det år du fyller 20 år" and that you must be insured in Sweden.

The amount depends on age (as of October 2026, per Försäkringskassan):

The table has no band for the year you turn 66. If you turn 66 during 2026, you receive 600 kronor under a temporary rule that applies in 2026 only (as of October 2026, per Försäkringskassan): "Du som fyller 66 år under 2026 får 600 kronor i år." The legal basis is transitional point 2 of SFS 2025:1441, which amended förordning (2008:193): anyone who had turned 65 before 1 January 2026 keeps the higher amount.

A new allmänt tandvårdsbidrag arrives on 1 July each year: "Du får ett nytt tandvårdsbidrag den första juli varje år" (as of October 2026, per 1177). You may save it for the next year and use two at once, which gives 600 or 1 200 kronor depending on your age band (Försäkringskassan). You can use it for care that qualifies for the state support.

You can also use it as part payment of an abonnemangstandvård contract. Försäkringskassan describes it as an agreement with your dentist or dental hygienist "om att få tandvård till ett fast pris under tre år", a fixed price over three years that some dentists call a frisktandvårdsavtal.

Tell the dentist if you want to save the bidrag; 1177 notes you need to say so ("Vill du spara ditt bidrag behöver du tala om det för tandläkaren eller tandhygienisten.").

There is also a särskilt tandvårdsbidrag (STB) of 1 000 kronor per half-year, from 1 January and 1 July. It is for adults with certain illnesses or disabilities that raise the risk of poor dental health, such as Sjögren's syndrome, Crohn's disease or dialysis treatment. Your dentist or dental hygienist assesses whether you qualify. This one cannot be saved from one half-year to the next (as of October 2026, per Försäkringskassan).

Högkostnadsskydd: The High-Cost Protection for Dental Care

The högkostnadsskydd för tandvård is the part that matters when a bill is large. It is a protection for expensive treatment, such as a crown. It does not cover small bills, and it does not make dental care free.

Försäkringskassan sets out the allmän tandvårdsersättning (ATE), which applies to every adult (as of October 2026, per Försäkringskassan):

• Your first 3 000 kronor of costs within one year are yours, calculated at the referenspris, or at the dentist's price if that is lower.
• Costs from 3 000 to 15 000 kronor: the state covers 50 percent.
• Costs above 15 000 kronor: the state covers 85 percent.

TLV gives the thresholds in the law's own terms, as 0,0507 and 0,2534 prisbasbelopp (the price base amount that Swedish law uses to index many amounts), rounded down to the nearest 50 kronor, which gives 3 000 and 15 000 kronor (TLV). The "year" is a period of twelve months, and you may start a new period yourself before the old one ends. Any bidrag you use is deducted before the högkostnadsskydd is calculated.

Not everything counts. Cosmetic treatment such as tooth whitening is excluded. So is care inside an abonnemangstandvård contract, and dental care that forms part of treating an illness, where the regional patient fee applies instead.

Allmänt Tandvårdsbidrag and Högkostnadsskydd: How They Differ

The allmänt tandvårdsbidrag is a fixed yearly amount of 300 or 600 kronor that you can spend on any qualifying care, and it can be saved for one more year. The högkostnadsskydd is a share of large costs: nothing below 3 000 kronor, 50 percent from 3 000 to 15 000 kronor, 85 percent above that.

You get both at once. Any bidrag you use is deducted before the högkostnadsskydd is calculated, so the two do not stack on the same krona. Neither is the same as the healthcare högkostnadsskydd for patient fees, which does not cover ordinary dental care. Dental care given as part of treating an illness is charged as healthcare and does count toward it (tandvårdslag 15 a §).

Referenspris Versus What the Clinic Charges

The referenspris is a fixed price that the state sets for every treatment that qualifies for the support, and it includes the cost of materials (as of October 2026, per Försäkringskassan). Referenspriser are recalculated each year: "Referenspriserna räknas om och aktualiseras den 15 januari varje år" (as of October 2026, per 1177).

The referenspris is not an average and not a recommended price. 1177 says it is "inte ett genomsnittspris eller rekommenderat pris som tandläkaren eller tandhygienisten måste ta", which means it is not an average price or a recommended price that the dentist must charge. Clinics set their own prices, and the state calculates its share on the lower of the two figures.

This is why two patients with the same treatment can pay different totals. The högkostnadsskydd is calculated on the referenspris, or on the clinic's price if that is lower. When a clinic charges more than the referenspris, the state's share stays the same, and you pay the whole difference yourself, on top of your own share. That difference does not count toward the högkostnadsskydd thresholds. The higher the clinic price is above the referenspris, the more you pay. TLV walks through a worked example.

As of October 2026, per Försäkringskassan, you have the right to a price quote before treatment starts, and if treatment spans several visits, a preliminary written estimate of the total. Afterwards you are entitled to a receipt that shows each treatment, its price and its referenspris.

Särskild Tandvårdsersättning From the Year You Turn 67

From the year you turn 67, a reinforced protection applies, the särskild tandvårdsersättning (STE). For many treatments you pay 10 percent of the referenspris. Within it, the clinic may not charge more than the referenspris, although it may charge less: "inom särskild tandvårdsersättning får inte vårdgivaren ta ett högre pris än referenspriset" (as of October 2026, per Försäkringskassan).

It covers treatments for disease, pain and gum disease, fillings, and crowns, bridges and implants for the front ten teeth in each jaw. TLV adds that examinations and preventive care are paid under the general allmän tandvårdsersättning.

Asylum Seekers and Undocumented People

Special rules apply if you are asylum-seeking or undocumented (as of October 2026, per Försäkringskassan). "Fram till det år du fyller 18 år" you have the right to free dental care. After that you can get dental care that cannot wait for a fixed fee per visit; Försäkringskassan states the amount. TLV describes the same fee for acute care.

Related Guides

• Healthcare in Sweden: how the general healthcare system and patient fees work.
• The healthcare högkostnadsskydd for patient fees: the separate högkostnadsskydd for vårdcentral and hospital fees, which does not cover ordinary dental care; dental care given as part of treating an illness counts toward it.
• Private health insurance in Sweden: a separate topic from the state dental support.