Dental care : the dentists again on the street

Published the 08.09.2017 at 18h01

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care dentairesdentisteprothèse dental

The holidays have not dimmed their anger. Dentists are mobilizing again against the new convention tariff decided under the Hollande era. The ” Coordination of Dentists Liberals “, which brings together 15 600 dentists in 78 departments, call the professionals at a demonstration on 14 September in front of the Sickness Insurance Funds. It is through this movement to put pressure on the new government.

Dentists are protesting against the grid of the new rates, which include a cap on the price of the prostheses. In return, the routine will be re-evaluated upward. From 1 January 2018, the price of a metal-ceramic crown may not and more than 550 euros, and a treatment for a cavity will cost 67 euros instead of 41 currently. Rates will be assessed again in 2020.

The convention postponed for a year

The evolution is expected to enhance access to dental prostheses for patients who drop out, lack of budget by lowering their cost. The authorities have also sought to give a boost to prevention by encouraging practitioners to carry out basic care.

But the dentists don’t hear as well. They point to a levelling down of the quality of a benefit : by capping prices, the health Insurance would encourage them to use products of lower quality. They also point out that without the income consequential damages related to the placement of dentures, they would not be able to amortize the costs of their equipment.

“Agnès Buzyn was keen to reconnect with our professional representatives in a dialogue broken for more than 5 years to introduce a new climate of trust “, write the signatories of a communiqué of the cell. The minister announced the one-year deferral of the entry into force of the new grid tariff (in January 2019) and the resumption of negotiations treaty of 15 September, informed the press release.

Dentures for all by 2022 ?

On 18 July the minister issued a “framework letter” to Nicolas Revel, director-general of UNCAM (National Union of Sickness Insurance Funds), can we still read. It insists on the need to strengthen the prevention of dental and oral health. It also speaks to the commitment of Emmanuel Macron, who promised during the presidential campaign to offer all the French in 2022 access to bids without any of the cost for dentures.

“We are more reserved on this point, say the protesters. This gift to the French could be poisoned if it means an increase of contributions of compulsory insurance and complementary as well as compromise on the quality of prostheses “.

Moreover, the dentists remind us that the dentures are therapies “invasive and mutilating” and should be administered only as a last resort. A ” paradox regrettable, therefore, could be born of this political choice : we can fear a public health disaster for our citizens with the amplification of the acts of the prosthesis at a low cost (zero load), to the detriment of acts of preservation of the dental tissues “.

The press release ends on a threatening tone. In the absence of agreement with the profession, ” we may think differently about the merits of our contractual arrangements with the UNCAM “. No, the holidays have calmed any anger and the back looks rough.