Despite the increase in the number of dentists in recent years, in 2024, 9.9% of the population aged 16 and over reported unmet needs for dental consultation/treatment (3.6% in the case of the population up to 15 years old).

In 2023, the number of professionals certified by the Medical Dentist Association was 12,067, 14.5% more than in 2019, the year in which:

• 15.9% of the Portuguese rated their oral health status as bad or very bad, with the assessment worsening with age and improving with education;
• 7 out of 10 Portuguese brushed their teeth between two and three times a day, with this frequency decreasing to 5.6 people in the elderly;
• from the age of 55, the degree of difficulty in biting and chewing hard food increased substantially, for more than 1/3 of the elderly aged 85 and over.