Here you can find information about family physicians, dental care and disabled access.
Family Physicians
The first level of the health care system in Estonia is Family Physicians (sometimes referred to as Family Doctors). Everyone has the right to choose their own family physician. You can register yourself as a patient of your family physician right in their office. Family Physicians send their patients to medical specialists if and when necessary. Family physicians also write prescriptions for prescription-medicines.
Prescriptions that have been issued in other EU member countries are not valid in Estonia. So in the event that you need to buy any prescription medicines, you need to contact a doctor here. Prescriptions issued by Finnish doctors are valid in Estonia from January 2019.
Visits to family physicians are free of charge if you have valid Estonian health insurance or a European Health Insurance Card. You must pay 5 Euros for a home visit.
For visits to medical specialists, a visit fee of up to 5 Euros is charged.
No referral from a family physician is needed to visit a:
- psychiatrist
- gynaecologist
- dermatovenerologist
- ophthalmologist
- dentist
- pulmonologist (for tuberculosis treatment)
- infectious diseases specialist (for HIV/AIDS treatment)
- surgeon or orthopaedist (for traumatology).
In case you need help finding a family physician, contact your nearest EURAXESS Services centre for assistance.
The Estonian Health Insurance Fund has established a health advice hotline that works 24 hours every day; the service is free of charge and you can use it by dialling 1220.
See also:
Estonian Health Insurance Fund - Primary health care in Estonia
There is an online registry of Family Physicians in Estonia. The page is in Estonian.
(Some relevant vocabulary: perearsti nimeosa = part of the name of the family physician; teenuse osutaja = service provider; teeninduspiirkond = service area; perearst = family physician; teeninduspiirkonna aadress = address of the service area; perearstikeskus = medical centre; registreerimise telefon = telephone number for making an appointment, vastuvõtuajad= reception hours; kontakt= contact)
Dental are
Dental care in Estonia is relatively cheap compared to average European prices. Price of 10 min consultation is ca 10 euros, removal of a wisdom tooth is ca 40 euros. On the Estonian Dental Web Portal Hambaarst.ee ("hambaarst" means "dentist", direct translation is "tooth doctor") you can find an up-to-date register of Estonian dentists and dental companies. Search by address or area. Register in Estonian only.
In case you need help finding a dentist, you can contact your nearest EURAXESS Services centre for assistance.
Dental care benefits
Dental care is free for Estonian residents under the age of 19. As of January 1-st 2018, all adults with health insurance may ask for dental care benefit up to 40 euros per year. At a single visit, at least 50% of the bill must be covered by the patient.
It is possible to use a special taxi service for disabled people in both Tallinn and Tartu. To use this service you should contact the local social welfare department.
A lot remains to be done to enable disabled people to manage on their own. Disabled people can obtain support and additional information from their local government’s social welfare departments.
Tallinn Social Welfare and Health Care Department
Address: Paldiski mnt. 48a, 10614, Tallinn
Phone: (+372) 645 7440
E-mail: sotsiaal@tallinnlv.ee
Tartu Department of Social Welfare and Health Care
Address: Raekoja plats 3, 51003, Tartu
Phone: (+372) 736 1300
E-mail: sto@raad.tartu.ee
Emergencies and hospitals
In an emergency situation, call:
112 Emergency calls, Ambulance
Calls to emergency numbers are free of charge and can be made from any phone, including pay-phones and the mobile phones of any service provider (incl. foreign).
You should report the following when making an emergency call:
- What happened?
- Where did it happen?
- Who is calling?
- Is somebody injured? What is their condition?
- Can somebody give first aid?
Emergency health care is free of charge to everyone irrespective of your insurance situation.
If the situation is not that dangerous that an ambulance needs to be called, but you need to contact a doctor after regular reception hours, you can turn to the emergency reception in a hospital.