Dental care and the 100% Santé scheme

As with GPs, dental coverage is variable depending on region, however, there are concerns that the number of dentists is too low nationally.

There have been moves to address this, such as abolishing a cap on the number of dental student places, creating eight new university dentistry departments and extra money for students agreeing to practise in areas with shortages for at least two years. A ‘level two’ dental assistant role was created who are able to help dentists with a wider range of tasks.

As of 2025 the government is banning new practices in areas deemed to have a high number of dentists (unless they are totally private without an agreement with the state for reimbursements).

Click on dentists on this page to see a map indicating coverage.

While in some areas you may need to try several practices to find one to see you for a routine check-up, there is also a rule that a dentist must see you if you are suffering from a dental emergency.

Dental care is also one of the areas, along with eye care and hearing care, that has benefited from improved state and private cover in recent years under a system called ‘100 Santé’. You need a top-up policy to benefit. It provides access to fully-reimbursable dental, eye and hearing care through a combination of this top-up insurance and social security.

The reform aimed at filling gaps in previous coverage. With regard to dentistry, it relates to more expensive, one-off kinds of treatment, rather than routine dental care. It also relates to essential care and does not cover the most costly or cosmetic procedures or luxury-brand products.

What comes under 100% Santé?

Dentures, removable prostheses, transitional crowns and inlays/onlays (a more durable alternative to traditional fillings) are covered by the 100% Santé. This applies usually for entry-level prostheses with ceramic crowns at the front and metal at the back. Reimbursements for higher-end materials in crowns, implants and prosthetics are capped but will require a financial outlay on your part, which may be partially reimbursed via your mutuelle.

The dentist must provide an estimate showing the price of crowns and implants, separate from the cost of their work, and their origin. They are not obliged to state what the original cost price was to them.

What is not covered?

Routine dental procedures such as check-ups, scaling and polishing, root planing and fillings are not part of the 100% Santé scheme. However this work can be partially covered by Assurance Maladie and, depending on your private insurance policy, you may recover any outstanding balance in part or in full through your mutuelle. Fairly good cover for non-state-reimbursed work is accessible in more expensive policies.

Anything considered purely aesthetic, such as adult orthodontics, veneers and whitening, is not state-reimbursed.

Free dental check-ups for children and young adults

All children are offered a free preventive oral examination at age three, six, nine, 12 and 15.

Young adults receive one free preventive oral examination at ages 18, 21 and 24.

Each household should be sent a form by their local Cpam offering the free visit.

The visit does not have to be paid for and then reclaimed – the Cpam pays the dentist directly.

If the child needs follow-up treatment, this is reimbursed at 100%.

At other times a child’s dental care is mostly under the same rules as for an adult; however, different fees apply.

Cost of dental care

Dental care is reimbursed under the usual carte Vitale system and you do not need to go via your médecin traitant.

Most dentists are sector 1 (no dépassements, higher rates) apart from a few with droit permanent à dépassement (DP). You should be told in advance if this applies.

Aside from procedures covered by 100% Santé, common dental procedures have a fixed tariff and provide reimbursement at 60%.

These include a check-up at €23 and a scale and polish at €28.92.

Rates for fillings depend on how many sides of the tooth (faces) are affected from €29.30 (one) to €65.50 for three or more. An extraction is €39. Root canal treatment on a single molar costs €100.

The non-reimbursed participation forfaitaire of €2 does not apply to dentistry.

There are slightly higher tariffs for procedures on any permanent teeth of children aged under 13.

There are also certain procedures that are reimbursed at 60% of a fixed price but the dentist can charge as much as he or she likes, although this is supposed to be applied ‘with tact and measure’.

Top-ups vary in how they cover dentistry and usually state that they will cover a set percentage of the fixed part of the tariff; 100% or 200% etc.

A maximum reimbursement ceiling may be applied.

Most align with a combination of the standard reimbursements and the 100% Santé reform. More expensive policies are available for people wishing to extend coverage for aesthetic treatments, adult orthodontics, specialised materials, etc.