Reimbursement · Tips
Going to the dentist in Belgium: how to get better reimbursement
The most important rule is simple: go to the dentist at least once a year. Since INAMI/RIZIV (Belgian national health insurance) introduced the oral care pathway (trajet de soins buccaux), patients aged 19 and over who received reimbursed care in the previous calendar year pay less for most treatments.
The oral care pathway
- It applies automatically to patients aged 19 and over.
- If you did not receive any reimbursed dental care the previous year, your share (patient co-payment) increases: for example, roughly double for a filling, root canal treatment or an extraction.
- Consultations, preventive care, orthodontics and X-rays are not affected by this increase.
Other rules to know
- For under-19s, consultations and routine care are reimbursed by compulsory health insurance.
- People with increased reimbursement status (BIM) pay a very small share, often nothing, for most care.
- Since 1 January 2022, dentists have been able to apply third-party payment (tiers payant) for all patients. At Maison du Sourire, it is applied and all the dentists are contracted with INAMI/RIZIV.
Treatments with little reimbursement
- Implants, veneers and whitening are reimbursed little or not at all by compulsory health insurance. Supplementary dental insurance may cover part of the cost: always ask for a cost estimate before treatment.
Key points
- One check-up a year means better reimbursement the following year.
- Routine care reimbursed for under-19s.
- For a major treatment, ask for a cost estimate and check your supplementary insurance.