Dental care in Sweden is a separate system from the rest of healthcare, with its own clinics, its own law and free pricing. Which door you use depends on the time of day. Your card matters less than you’d think, unless you’re travelling with children.
When you need this
A tooth cracks on a Saturday afternoon. Toothache has kept you up all night and you don’t know which clinic sees tourists. Your child knocks out a tooth in a fall, or your cheek is swelling around a sore tooth and you feel feverish. Or you’re standing at a dental reception wondering whether your EHIC will help.
Is it the hospital or the dentist?
Most dental problems belong at a dental clinic, not at a vårdcentral (health centre) and not at akuten, the hospital emergency department. A few don’t. Sort that out first:
| Situation | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Trouble breathing, or anything life-threatening | Call 112 |
| A broken bone in the face, a hard blow to the jaw, heavy bleeding from the face | The nearest hospital akutmottagning |
| Swelling around the teeth with fever, or difficulty opening your mouth or swallowing | A dental clinic or on-call dentist the same day |
| Swelling from a wisdom tooth spreading down the neck | Straight to a dental clinic |
| Toothache that won’t go away, a chipped or broken tooth | A dental clinic, by phone first |
Two regions tell patients in almost the same words that serious fractures and tooth, jaw and facial injuries go to the emergency department. The breathing rule isn’t specific to teeth. Breathing difficulty is on 1177’s list of reasons to go to akuten, whatever the cause. For what happens once you’re there, see our guide to Swedish emergency departments.
Don’t treat a swollen, feverish face as an ordinary toothache that can wait until Monday. That combination is exactly what the on-call dentist is for.
Which dentist, by time of day
The legal backstop is short and firm. Section 6 of Sweden’s Dental Care Act, Tandvårdslagen, says that if someone staying in a region without living there needs immediate dental care, the region must offer it. How each region does that varies, but the pattern is the same everywhere.
On a weekday, phone a clinic. That can be Folktandvården, the regions’ public dental service, or a private dentist. Many private clinics take acute patients. Region Stockholm tells people to call before going so the clinic is ready for them.
At weekends and on public holidays, find the region’s jourtandvård (on-call dental service). You usually phone within a short morning window to book a time, not walk in. The easiest way to find it is to search 1177.se for akut tandvård plus the county name. Each region publishes its own arrangement there.
At night, call 1177. No dentist is normally open. The nurse gives you guidance, and in some regions refers you to the dentist on call. From a foreign phone, dial +46 771 11 77 00. More on how the line works in our guide to the 1177 advice line.
How three regions do it:
| Region | Weekdays | Weekends and holidays | Night |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stockholm | Your own dentist, the day-open Folktandvården acute clinic, or private dentists who take acute cases | The region’s page names no separate weekend service; call 1177 | Call 1177 for guidance |
| Uppsala | Call your dentist and book | Folktandvården’s acute clinic opens; phone to book | Call 1177 |
| Västmanland | Your dentist, in the daytime | On-call service booked by phone in a morning window | 1177 refers you to the on-call dentist |
Weekends and holidays mean fewer slots, and in two regions we checked they also mean a surcharge (see below). Midsummer, Christmas and Easter run on holiday schedules.
Knocked-out or broken tooth
If an adult (permanent) tooth is knocked out, put it back in its socket if you can. If you can’t, keep it in milk, saline solution, or under your tongue. Never keep it in water, because 1177 says water damages the root. Then get to a dentist as soon as possible. Out of hours, contact the on-call dentist or call 1177.
Never put a child’s milk tooth back in. It can damage the permanent tooth growing in the jaw underneath.
Once you’re in the chair, ask whether a temporary repair will do. The card covers care that can’t wait until you get home. A temporary filling keeps the bill down and leaves the permanent work to your own dentist.
What you pay
Two facts shape every dental bill in Sweden. First, pricing is free. TLV, the state agency for dental and pharmaceutical benefits, puts it plainly: every dentist and dental hygienist can charge whatever they like. Second, Folktandvården’s adult fees are set by each region’s council, so they differ across the country too.
What changes the bill is where you’re insured:
| You are… | What you pay for necessary dental care |
|---|---|
| Insured in the EU/EEA or Switzerland (EHIC), or holding a UK GHIC | The same price as Swedish residents; show the physical card before treatment |
| A child with one of those cards | Free, until 31 December of the year they turn 19 |
| Resident in a Nordic country | The resident price, with a passport or ID and your home address |
| From Australia or Québec | The resident price for certain dental care, under an agreement |
| From anywhere else | The whole cost, at the dentist’s own price, children included |
“Necessary” means treatment that can’t wait until you get home, and the dentist decides what counts. Planned treatment is a different matter: it needs a certificate from your home country naming the Swedish dentist and the treatment. For how the card works overall, including why a photo or app version isn’t accepted, see what the EHIC and GHIC cover.
Here’s what most guides miss. For an adult, “the resident price” isn’t a small patient fee. Swedish residents pay the clinic’s own price for their dental care until their year’s costs pass the threshold of Sweden’s high-cost protection. So for a single emergency visit, an adult with a card and an uninsured visitor usually pay close to the same amount. That’s our reading of 1177’s and Försäkringskassan’s rules together, not a sentence either one publishes. The card matters most for children and for big treatments. For an adult, travel insurance with emergency dental cover is what actually caps the bill. 1177 itself tells people to contact their insurer for compensation after a dental accident.
Two more things are worth knowing:
- Weekend and acute visits can cost more. Region Västmanland adds a surcharge for acute visits on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and Uppsala’s Folktandvården acute clinic adds one for acute help (the size is in Practical information below).
- Ask the price before treatment starts. With free pricing, Vad kostar det ungefär? (“roughly what will it cost?”) is a normal question. For anything bigger than a temporary fix, TLV’s Tandpriskollen shows median prices by clinic. It’s updated in January, July and October, and the figures aren’t a quote.
A note on age limits, since older pages get this wrong: free dental care for Swedish residents now ends in the year they turn 19, not 23. The change took effect on 1 January 2025.
Painkillers while you wait
1177 is clear that painkillers help only temporarily. They don’t replace a dentist. Supermarkets and petrol stations sell ibuprofen tablets such as Ipren. Paracetamol tablets you swallow whole are pharmacy-only, but effervescent and melt-in-the-mouth versions are sold outside pharmacies. Läkemedelsverket, the medicines agency, says the two substances work differently and can be combined. What you must not do is take two paracetamol brands together: Alvedon and Panodil are the same drug. The full picture is in our guide to non-prescription painkillers in Sweden.
Mistakes to avoid
- Taking toothache to the hospital emergency department. Call a dental clinic, or 1177 out of hours.
- Assuming the EHIC makes adult dental care cheap. Ask the price, and check your insurance.
- Turning up without phoning. Weekend services book by phone.
- Waiting until Monday with a swollen, feverish face. That’s what the on-call dentist is for.
- Putting a knocked-out tooth in a glass of water. Use milk or saline.
- Showing the card on your phone. Carry the physical card.
- Hunting for paracetamol tablets in a supermarket at night. Buy ibuprofen there, or go to a pharmacy.
Practical information
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Weekdays | Phone Folktandvården or a private dentist |
| Weekends and public holidays | The region’s on-call dental service, usually booked by phone in a morning window; see the region’s 1177 page on akut tandvård |
| Nights | Call 1177; from a foreign phone +46 771 11 77 00 |
| Face or jaw trauma, heavy facial bleeding | Hospital emergency department |
| Trouble breathing | 112 |
| EU/EEA, Swiss or UK card | Resident price for necessary care; for adults, normally the clinic’s own price |
| Card-holding children | Free until 31 December of the year they turn 19 |
| Everyone else | The whole cost, children included |
| Weekend or acute surcharge | 50 percent more in Västmanland (weekends, holidays) and at Uppsala’s acute clinic (checked 2026-09-24) |
| Price comparison | Tandpriskollen (TLV) |
No fee amounts are published here. Dentists set their own prices and regions revise their fees every year, so ask the clinic before treatment.
FAQ
Where do I go for emergency dental care in Sweden?
Phone a dental clinic, not a health centre or hospital. On weekdays, try Folktandvården or a private dentist; many take acute patients. At weekends and on public holidays, each region runs an on-call dental service, usually booked by phone in a morning window. At night no dentist is normally open, so call 1177 for guidance: +46 771 11 77 00 from a foreign phone.
Does the EHIC cover dental treatment in Sweden?
Yes, for necessary care: treatment that can’t wait until you get home, as judged by the dentist. You pay the same price as Swedish residents, and children with a card get it free until the year they turn 19. Show the physical card before treatment. The UK GHIC works the same way. Planned treatment needs a separate certificate from home.
How much does an emergency dentist cost in Sweden?
There’s no national price. Dentists set their own prices and regions set Folktandvården’s fees, so costs vary between clinics in the same town. Adult residents pay the clinic’s own price until their year’s costs pass a high-cost threshold, so an adult’s single emergency visit costs much the same with or without a card. Ask before treatment starts.
What if I am not from the EU or the UK?
You pay the whole cost of all dental care, necessary or planned, and children pay too. Nordic residents are the exception: they pay the resident price with a passport or ID and their home address. Australia and Québec have a dental agreement covering certain care. For everyone else, travel insurance with emergency dental cover is what pays.
When should I go to the emergency room instead of a dentist?
For a broken bone in the face, a hard blow to the jaw, or heavy bleeding from the face, go to the nearest hospital emergency department. If you have trouble breathing, call 112. Swelling with fever, or difficulty opening your mouth or swallowing, needs a dentist or on-call dentist the same day, not the hospital.
What do I do if a tooth gets knocked out?
If it’s a permanent tooth, put it back in its socket if you can. Otherwise keep it in milk, saline solution or under your tongue, never in water, and get to a dentist as soon as possible. Out of hours, contact the on-call dentist or call 1177. Never put a child’s milk tooth back in.
What painkillers can I buy for toothache in Sweden?
Supermarkets and petrol stations sell ibuprofen tablets such as Ipren. Paracetamol tablets are pharmacy-only; outside a pharmacy it comes as effervescent or melt tablets. The Swedish medicines agency says the two can be combined. Never take two paracetamol brands together. Painkillers only help temporarily, so see a dentist.
Related guides
- Swedish emergency departments: what happens at akuten if it’s face or jaw trauma.
- Non-prescription painkillers in Sweden: what you can buy at 22:00, and where.
- What the EHIC and GHIC cover: the card rules in full, including the physical-card requirement.
- The 1177 advice line: the number that finds you the on-call dentist at night.
- Travel insurance for Sweden: the only thing that caps an adult’s dental bill.
Facts verified 2026-09-24. Sources: 1177 and the regions (Stockholm, Uppsala, Västmanland), Försäkringskassan, TLV, Läkemedelsverket, SOS Alarm and the Dental Care Act (Tandvårdslagen) — full register in this topic’s source file. No fee amount is published here: dentists set their own prices. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.