Patent teeth pulled and incense sticks instead of treatments. The desperation of Romanians without access to a dentist

Many Romanians end up without teeth due to poverty, the lack of dental offices in the countryside, but also poor dental hygiene. According to statistics, Romania ranks last in the European Union when it comes to brushing teeth. Instead, baby remedies are used.

Many rural pensioners have low incomes PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache

Dental health is one of the most important aspects for any human being. Beyond aesthetics it has a significant impact on general health, digestive functions and speech. Untreated dental problems can worsen various health conditions such as heart or digestive problems. There is, for example, a link between gum inflammation and the risk of blocked arteries. This is precisely why good dental hygiene is important, as well as repeated preventive checks, so that dentists can intervene in time to save teeth affected by cavities, for example.

Well, the Romanians who are champions of preventable diseases are also at the top of the list of shame in terms of dental health.

More precisely, Romania ranks last in the European Union in terms of dental hygiene. Many Romanians go to the dentist only when they can no longer bear the pain and when the teeth cannot be saved. But there are even more dramatic situations in the poor and isolated areas of Romania, especially in the countryside, where people do not have access to dental services or the financial possibility to call on private offices in the cities. So they end up fighting back pain with dangerous baby remedies, extracting their teeth with the patent or effectively remain toothless.

Romanians who are left without teeth in their mouths due to poverty

In Botoșani county, for example, the northernmost in Romania and considered one of the poorest in the country, in the villages further from the big urban centers, it is easy to see the state of the dental health of many locals. Especially many elderly people but also young villagers of 40-50 years old have obvious dental problems. Many have numerous extractions, others have almost no teeth left.

Most of them go to the doctor only when they can no longer bear the pain and the tooth cannot actually be saved. Others are lucky to have children abroad who help them get implants and restore their teeth.

However, there are quite a few who actually sit like this and eat what they have left. The reasons are multiple. Some are objective, such as the lack of dental offices in rural areas. At the beginning of 2025, in Botoșani county, there were 37 dental practices under contract with the County Insurance House. Under these conditions, many municipalities have no dentist. Including, municipalities located at a maximum of 20 kilometers from Botoșani municipality, such as Unțeniul. And here comes the second cause. Many villagers are too poor to afford dental treatment at private offices in town. It's dental work that far exceeds people's monthly income.

More pensioners remained in the countryside PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache

We are no longer talking about a CAP pension. The only hope for these people ends up being the emergency dental office at the “Mavromati” County Hospital. Basic, emergency interventions are done there, not dental work. But people are satisfied and so, they get rid of the pain.

Emergency dentists say that most patients arrive when almost nothing can be done to save that tooth or in highly chronic stages. “The most common cases are dental caries that become pulpitis, abscesses, coronary and root fractures, but also post-extraction alveolitis. All emergency patients come very late. And this is due to the fact that there is no dentist in the remote areas and they have to go to Botoșani, and the emergency becomes very severe and chronic. The continuation of the treatment must be done in a dental office, but 80% of the patients do not do it anymore due to lack of of funds. Stopping the pain is the great urgency they need”says the emergency dentist, Artur Fichman.

“I grind my teeth for nothing because I have nothing to eat with them”

People from the countryside say that especially the needy cannot afford dental treatment. Some cannot even afford extractions considering that the prices for such an intervention can exceed 300 lei. “Yes, where do you get money for a dentist? We don't even have anything like that in the commune. In Botoșani, you have to go to a private dentist, no chance. Well, if I end up paying that much money, I'm getting my teeth done for nothing because I won't have anything to eat with them anyway”confesses a villager from Unțeni. The elderly, in particular, complain about pensions that are too small, which do not allow them to have expensive dental treatments. “Who can still afford to go to town. That there is no dentist here. Who don't, especially those with small pensions, sit like this“, says a villager from Burlesti.

Many villagers do not have money for dental interventions PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache

“Boss, when you're in pain, you go. You get on all fours and go. But only outside. I don't know what to do there, where the money comes from. Only those who go to work outside get their teeth, the rest grind”says another villager.

The situation is the same up to the communes near the city. Poor families cannot afford dental treatments. I sit with ground teeth until they can bear to go for an extraction. “We don't have money for food, where do we get teeth?”confesses a local from Stăuceni, a commune located near Botoșani.

Pains treated with incense, teeth extracted with the patent

Worse is the fact that some villagers, especially those living in remote communities end up resorting to all kinds of baby remedies or dangerous procedures to get rid of the pain. It is mainly incense and alcohol or they simply use the patent to extract their rotten teeth.

“In remote villages and because of the pain, people use incense that is put on the teeth and it totally ruins them. There is also self-extraction, they try to pull out their teeth with a patent or other objects. But there is also alcohol, which is totally forbidden to put on the gums, but which they use”says Artur Fichman.

Spirit is not missing from the baby's arsenal. “If you're in pain, there's nothing you can do, people also put incense. It helps. What do you do when you get sick at night and you don't even have money to cross the street?”, says another local from Unțeni.

Brushing your teeth, a problem in Romania

Beyond poverty and the lack of dental offices in rural areas, brushing teeth is also a problem for Romanians. According to a report from 2021, 63% of Romanians do not brush their teeth regularly and only 17% go to the dentist for preventive check-ups. Other studies, from 2024, indicate that two out of ten Romanians have never brushed their teeth. At the same time, 44.5% of teenagers did not go to the dentist even though they needed it. It is true that only 24% of teenagers say that their parents can financially cover their dental treatment.