Jelgava Children's State-Funded Dental Quotas Used Up for the Year; Paid Visits Have Three-Week Wait
At the Kronis, Concordia dental clinic in Jelgava, state-funded quotas for children in 2026 are fully booked, and a paid appointment takes about three weeks. Meanwhile, mobile dental care is returning to Zemgale schools after a long break.
At the Kronis, Concordia dental clinic in Jelgava, all state-funded dental quotas for children for 2026 are already reserved. Parents who now want a free visit for their child must wait until next year, while a paid appointment involves a wait of about three weeks. The issue is topical after the State Audit Office recently presented an audit report on children's limited opportunities to receive timely medical care, including state-paid dentistry.
Quotas at the clinic are used up
The clinic's founder and head, dental hygienist Laine Seikstule, says the state-allocated quotas are limited and are fully used. No waiting list is kept for next year: bookings will open once funding is approved and a contract is signed with the state. The size of the quotas for 2027 is not yet known.
This year, 60% of the clinic's dental hygiene services and about 50% of dentist services were provided to children at state expense. Paid services cost less for children than for adults. The first state-funded visit to a dental hygienist is available from the age of two.
Seikstule recalls that state mobile dental buses travelled around the regions until about 2015, when the programme ended after funding was cut. Her own privately owned mobile bus was donated to Ukrainian medics last year.
Mobile clinic returns to Zemgale
The company SIA Ģimenes zobārstniecība, headquartered in Cēsis, is sending its mobile clinics to schools in the Zemgale region this year. By the end of the semester it plans visits to the Biksti and Naudīte primary schools in Dobele municipality and to Mazzalve in Aizkraukle municipality; dates have not yet been agreed. Dental hygienist Egija Miška provides state-funded hygiene services.
The National Health Service (NVD) has set rules: a mobile unit may work only at schools with at least 100 pupils located at least 20 kilometres from a place offering state-funded dental care. For that reason it cannot visit schools in Jelgava. A child needs parental permission and confirmation that the service has not been received elsewhere this year. Hygiene is state-funded once a year, but twice at ages 7, 11 and 12.
