Portugal establishes special dentist career within SNS

Portugal has officially published the legislation creating a special career path for dentists within the National Health Service (SNS). This move follows years of professional demands to integrate dental specialists into the public health system.

The new legal framework establishes three distinct categories: assistant, assessor, and senior assessor. Entry into the career begins at the assistant level with a generalist degree, with progression contingent upon specialist titles, preferably in oral public health or hospital dentistry. To reach the assessor level, professionals must complete six years of effective service as an assistant or hold a specialist degree. The senior assessor level requires four years of service as an assessor alongside a specialist degree.

Under this law, dentists will be integrated into the oral health services of Local Health Units (ULS). Previously, many of the approximately 150 dentists working in the public sector were employed as service providers via independent contractor status (recibos verdes) or placed in general technical careers due to the lack of a specific professional track.