German Dentists Concerned Over Impact of Migrants’ Oral Health Problems
Dentists in Germany have warned that standards of oral health among migrants could have severe implications for taxpayers. Many dentists have reported severe dental health problems among the new migrant population, which is likely to cost German taxpayers a significant amount of money in the coming years.
Knuth Wolf, chief of the dentists association in Baden-Wurttemberg, said that the influx of migrants is already taking its toll on dental resources and the fact that many have severe dental issues, which require complex courses of treatment, spells trouble for dental funding in the future.
The German government is yet to release data associated with the cost of funding medical and dental care for migrants. Germany has a national health system, but most Germans pay into insurance schemes and use private facilities and services. Without the relevant insurance, migrants can often only access urgent services, which carry a high running cost.
In some cities, including Hamburg, private insurers have been urged to take on migrants and the cost of care has been passed down to the local taxpayer. However, this is not the case in other cities and it takes time to process applications and enable migrants to claim benefits.
According to Stuttgarter Nachrichten, the cost of providing dental care for migrants could run into the billions. Even if only 10 percent of migrants accepted dental treatment, this will create a bill of more than 1 billion euros.
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