There is a Shortage of Dentists in Several Areas of the Country

Although our country has a well above average number of dentists per capita in the EU, there is a serious shortage of dental practitioners in some areas, said Dr. Nikolay Sharkov, President of the Bulgarian Dental Association.

Shortage of dentists is mainly in the northeastern regions of Bulgaria - Targovishte, Dobrich, Razgrad, Shumen.

"These are small settlements where it is extremely difficult if a dentist invests in a cabinet. To open one, we need to invest between 80 and 100 thousand. When the population in a small village is less than 1000, the dentist there will go bankrupt before he has even opened the cabinet, "Sharkov said.

In general, however, the number of dentists in the country is greater than that of the population. In our country a dentist treats 800 people, with the European minimum being a dentist serving 1,200 people. In the big cities the number of dentists is even higher - in Sofia, for example, a dentist has 300 patients.

According to Sharkov, this leads to another problem - hidden unemployment in large cities, which is not accounted for by the National Statistical Institute.

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