EUROPE: Cyprus has the third highest number of dentists per population

Cypriots with a toothache don’t have to go very far as Cyprus has the third highest number of practising dentists in the EU with 104 per 100,000 inhabitants.

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On the basis of a comparison in relation to population size, Greece recorded the highest number of dentists, at 123 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2016, according to Eurostat.

Bulgaria (112 per 100,000 inhabitants) and Cyprus (104 per 100,000 inhabitants) were the only other EU Member States where there were more than 100 practising dentists per 100,000 inhabitants.

By contrast, there were fewer than 50 practising dentists per 100,000 inhabitants in Slovakia, Malta and, most notably, Poland (33.2 per 100 000 inhabitants; 2015 data).

The number of practising dentists per 100,000 inhabitants remained relatively unchanged in most of the EU Member States between 2011 and 2016; there were, however, seven Member States where this ratio increased by at least 10 additional dentists per 100 000 inhabitants.

The largest absolute changes were recorded in Bulgaria (with an additional 21 dentists per 100 000 inhabitants between 2011 and 2016), Romania (20) and Portugal (19; dentists licensed to practise).

The highest relative increase in the number of dentists was recorded in Romania (up 33 % between 2011 and 2016) and there were also relatively large gains in Portugal (up 25 %), Bulgaria (up 24 %) and Spain (up 22 %).

By contrast, there were five Member States where the number of dentists per 100,000 inhabitants fell between 2011 and 2016.

The biggest reductions were recorded in Denmark (down 6%), Finland (down 6 %) and Greece (down 4 %), while the changes in Poland (down 2 %) and Sweden (down less than half a percent) were relatively small.