DENTAL SERVICES FINANCED FROM PUBLIC FUNDS IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: CURRENT STATUS AND CHALLENGES IN POLAND

Abstract

Dentistry in Poland is based on services financed from consumers’ private funds. The catalog of services available under general health insurance is so narrow that a significant number of patients have stopped using the public system and have devoted their funds to commercial dental services. Educational and preventive activities in the field of dentistry are consistent with the idea of sustainable development, especially from the point of view of the social and economic spheres, because prevention or quick treatment is usually more effective and cheaper. The article aims to show possible problems with implementing the idea of sustainable development in the context of health care resulting from the adopted financing policy of the National Health Fund. The work is based on the analysis of macroeconomic data and applicable legal acts in relation to the literature on the subject.

Keywords

• dental market
• consumer in health care
• health services
• dentistry
• sustainable development