Diseases and quality of care – Oral and dental diseases

A total of about 2.3 million adults aged 18 or older used basic oral health care services in 2025.

In 2025, 1.4 million adults visited public oral health services, and 1.1 million adults visited private oral health services. Only a small number used both public and private services during the same year.

A dentist or dental hygienist oral health examination was performed for 1,099,856 Finnish adults, which is about 24 percent of the adult population.

The information is based on the national quality register for the treatment of oral and dental diseases, which is part of Finland’s national quality registers. The report published in 2026 includes, for the first time, data from private oral health care.

Statutory oral health examinations for children and adolescents reach less than 80 percent

In 2025, 463,501 children or adolescents (46% of those under 18) had an examination in public basic oral health care.

Among children in the child health clinic age groups, an average of 79 percent attended the oral health examinations defined in the Government Decree. Among school-aged children, the coverage was 75 percent.

There were significant differences between well-being services counties. Coverage appears to be gradually improving after the COVID 19 period. Only among eighth graders was a slight decline observed compared to 2024.

“The goal is for every child in the target age group to attend an oral health examination. Periodic oral health check-ups for children and adolescents play an important role in maintaining oral health throughout life. With guidance on self care and professional treatment, oral diseases can be prevented or detected at an early stage, allowing their progression to be stopped,” says Ulla Harjunmaa, Chief Dental Officer at THL.

Large variation between wellbeing services counties in adults’ oral health examination visits

Among people aged 18 and over, 506,848 adults (11% of the adult population) had an oral health examination in public basic oral health care, and 625,937 adults (14% of the adult population) did so in the private sector. A total of 32,929 adults (0.7% of the adult population) had an examination in both sectors.

The share of adults who attended an examination was highest among those aged 50–80. When comparing wellbeing services counties, the differences were large — up to 11 percentage points.

The number of clients visiting the private sector has increased slightly. This may partly be due to more private service providers recording data in the Kanta Patient Data Repository.

Differences in caries prevalence between wellbeing services counties

Caries prevalence and restorative treatment in children and adolescents are described using the df index for primary teeth and the DF index for permanent teeth (D = number of decayed teeth, F = number of filled teeth). For adults, the DMF index is reported, which also includes missing teeth (M).

Since 2021 — when a slight decrease was observed — the average index values have changed very little in any age group. However, differences between wellbeing services counties remain significant for both children and adults across all age groups. These differences likely reflect not only variations in age structure and socioeconomic status, but also differences in regional oral health care practices.

Among adults, the average DMF score in the private sector was higher than in the public sector, mainly due to a greater number of filled teeth among working age private sector clients (ages 24–64).

In the public sector, the share of extracted teeth was somewhat higher in all age groups. “This likely reflects differences in clients’ socioeconomic status, which is linked not only to oral health but also to the ability to pay for restorative treatment,” concludes Chief Dental Officer Ulla Harjunmaa.

Diagnosis of periodontal diseases Is recorded more frequently

Determining the disease and recording the diagnosis during the examination is the basis for treatment, but the documentation of diagnoses in oral diseases has traditionally been incomplete.

However, the recording coverage of periodontal diagnoses (diseases of the tooth supporting tissues) has improved over the monitoring periods (public sector since 2017 and private sector since 2021). Based on population studies, the proportion of people with periodontitis in the population is still clearly higher than the proportion of recorded diagnoses.

There are also still large differences between wellbeing services counties in the share of people receiving a periodontal diagnosis during an examination. In the public sector, the shares range from 9 percent in South Ostrobothnia to 21 percent in Päijät Häme, and in the private sector from 7 percent in Ostrobothnia to 24 percent in East Uusimaa.

After receiving a diagnosis, periodontitis was treated in the private sector with, on average, slightly more treatment visits than in the public sector.

In public oral health care, diagnoses are recorded significantly more often than in private oral health care. This is likely due to differences both in the patient populations using the services and, in particular, in documentation practices.

About the data in more detail

Go to the report of the Oral and Dental Diseases Register (in Finnish)

Reported Quality Indicators

Adults’ Report

• Oral health care visits: examinations, coverage of diagnosis recording
• Tooth brushing: recording coverage, content of entries (public sector only)
• DMF index: recording coverage, averages, distribution
• Caries: diagnoses during visits, number of diagnosed individuals, treatment
• Periodontal diseases: periodontal diagnoses during visits, number of diagnosed individuals, treatment of periodontitis

Children’s Report (Public Sector Only)

• Oral health care visits: by age, child health clinic examinations, school age examinations
• Decayed teeth: df (ages 0–5), DF (ages 6–17)
• Tooth brushing: share brushing at least twice daily (%)

Results are reported separately for children and adults by age group. Results can be compared between wellbeing services counties or within counties by municipality.

Background information

Privacy notice

Source

Oral and Dental Diseases Quality Register

Description of the statistics

The purpose of the national Oral and Dental Diseases Quality Register is to monitor and help improve the quality and effectiveness of treatment for these diseases across Finland. The register monitors activities in primary oral health care.

Data are collected from both public and private primary oral health care. Sources include:

• THL’s primary care outpatient care register (Avohilmo)
• Kela’s Kanta Services Patient Data Repository
• Population data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency

Data are collected automatically, and maintaining the register does not require additional documentation or separate data transfers from professionals.

Update schedule

The register and report are updated at least once a year in the spring.