The healthcare system in Croatia

Croatia has a universal health care system. The population is covered by a basic health insurance plan provided by statute and optional insurance and administered by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund.

In 2012, annual compulsory healthcare related expenditures reached 21.0 billion kuna (c. 2.8 billion euro).

Dentist accreditation

Dentists in Croatia study at The School of Dental Medicine in Zagreb, founded in 1948 as the Department of Odontology within the Medical School and the only institution of its kind in Croatia.

After graduating, a student is entitled DDS or DMD (Doctor of Dental Surgery, or Doctor of Dental Medicine).  Many of Croatia’s dentists undertake training courses all over the world which provide invaluable knowledge and include internships in world educational centres such as The School of Dentistry at The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Global Institute for Dental Education (gIDE) which is established by professionals in order to go beyond the ordinary UCLA schedule running courses in implantology and dentistry in the UCLA facilities, as well as the Nobel Biocare Centre in Sweden under supervision of leading world specialists.

Dentists must belong to the Croatian Dental Chamber, the independent and autonomous professional association of doctors of dental medicine in Croatia.   Other official organisations include the Croatian Society of Periodontology, the Croatian Medical Association, the Croatian Society for Dental Implantology and the Croatian Society for Education in Implantology.