How can I check that a Portuguese dental practice is really registered?

The difficulty is almost always the same: several numbers coexist, and one is not worth the other. There is the registration number of the owning entity, the registration number of the establishment where the person is seen, and the number of the operating licence of that establishment.

For the Instituto AreLuna, the entity is the Instituto AreLuna Medicina Dentária Avançada, Lda, with the legal-entity tax number 516562240 and the entity registration number 37630. The establishment where dental care is provided is the one at Rua de Júlio Dinis, 194, 4050-327 Porto, with registration number 161637 and operating licence 21593.

The one to remember is the number of the establishment, not only that of the entity. The licence is granted by type of care and by address: one entity may have an establishment authorised for one type of care and another that is not yet. The address therefore forms part of the check, on a par with the numbers.

In a country where an insurer reimburses dental care, the provider has already passed through a filter: someone, upstream, has recognised it. In Switzerland, basic insurance does not cover this care in practice, and that filter does not exist for the dental patient.

The consequence is simple: the check that nobody makes is the one the person has to make themselves. It takes a few minutes, can be done from home and commits to nothing.

This register belongs to the Entidade Reguladora da Saúde and is published on ers.pt. In its frequently asked questions addressed to providers, the regulator recalls that registration is mandatory and that the certificate must remain displayed in view of the public.

That gives two routes, and both are worth taking. Before leaving, look up the provider in the register published by the regulator. On the spot, look for the certificate on the wall, where it should be. The two sources must agree word for word.

Anyone who prefers to ask can ask. A practice that does not reply in writing giving the legal name, the registration number of the establishment, the licence number and the full address has, in any case, given an answer.

There remains the most useful step, and the one most often skipped: the comparison. What appears in the register — legal name, address, postcode, type of care authorised — must match what is written on the website and on the quote. An address that differs, a street number that changes, a postcode transposed: none of these discrepancies is trivial.

If the two differ, the register prevails: it alone is supervised. And the question of where the discrepancy comes from is put to the practice before any booking.

The register says that the establishment exists legally, that it is identified with the regulator and that it is authorised for a specific type of care. It is not an assessment of the quality of the treatment, nor a forecast about the case of whoever is reading: for that there is no shortcut, and everything depends on a prior individual assessment and diagnosis.