Portugal Skips This Year's Dental Vouchers for Children Aged 7, 10 and 13 as a New Scheme Starts in January

Children aged 7, 10 and 13 will not receive the usual cheque-dentista (dental voucher) this school year. In Informação n.º 003/2026, dated 20 October, the Direção-Geral da Saúde (DGS, Directorate-General of Health) told the Unidades Locais de Saúde (ULS, local health units) that no vouchers will be issued to these three age groups for 2026/2027. The DGS says the measure is "exclusively transitional" and applies to this school year only.

Why the vouchers are not coming

Under the current calendar, vouchers for these ages are issued from 1 November and used between 1 January and 31 October of the following year, so this year's batch could only have been used from January 2027. That is when a new version of the Programa Nacional de Promoção da Saúde Oral (PNPSO, National Oral Health Promotion Programme) takes effect, under Portaria n.º 123/2026/1 of 20 March. Issuing old-style vouchers now, the DGS says, would have kept two regimes running side by side.

What changes in January

From 1 January 2027, children and young people get an initial voucher, worth 40 euros, every year at the ages of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Where treatment is needed, children aged 2, 4 and 6 can get up to one further treatment voucher a year, and those aged 8 to 18 up to two, each worth 45 euros and covering up to two teeth. For ages 2 to 10, the initial voucher is meant to be used preferably with a hygienist at a health centre of the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS, the national health service) and otherwise with a participating dentist outside the SNS.

The DGS has not yet said how children now aged 7, 10 or 13 will fit into the new age list. The operating rules for the new model are not yet published: the portaria gives the health bodies until 1 January 2027 to issue them.

What still applies

The DGS note covers only these three age groups, and vouchers already issued stay valid until they are used or expire. Under the 2023 rules still in force (Portaria n.º 430/2023), pregnant women can get up to three vouchers per pregnancy, people receiving the Complemento Solidário para Idosos (CSI, the means-tested supplement for older people) up to two a year, and people living with HIV up to six. The new portaria keeps those limits. The programme covers people registered with the SNS.

Normally, according to SNS 24, children up to 6 get vouchers through the family doctor, while vouchers for ages 7, 10 and 13 are issued by the health centre covering the school and handed to parents at school. Each voucher carries its expiry date.

What parents can do

Check any voucher your child holds on the SNS 24 portal or app, under "A minha saúde" and then "Saúde oral". A voucher can be used anywhere in Portugal with a dentist who has joined the programme, chosen from a national list; SNS 24 says to keep the same dentist until the cycle's expiry date.

If your child has toothache or decay before January, raise it with your family doctor or health centre. The DGS note does not say how urgent cases in these three age groups will be handled. For how the wider system works, see our guide to getting dental care in Portugal.