Asylum seekers and refugees' access to oral health care services in Switzerland: a qualitative study

Asylum seekers and refugees in Switzerland face major barriers to oral health care services, often limited to urgent treatments like tooth extractions. Access depends largely on legal status, canton of residence and duration in the country, whereby it is largely unclear for those affected as to which treatments are actually covered.

Sixteen interviews and three in-clinic observations were conducted with Arabic-speaking asylum seekers and refugees in Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft, two German-speaking Swiss cantons.

It was documented that financial constraints, permit restrictions, communication challenges, and limited autonomy often led participants to delay or avoid dental care, worsening their oral health. While frameworks like Levesque's model help explain access challenges, they do not fully capture how systemic barriers shape asylum seekers and refugees' abilities to recognize needs, seek care, and participate in their own health decisions. If these deeper structural issues are not addressed, there is a risk that efforts to improve care will fall short.

The current findings point to the need for systemic reforms to improve coverage, communication, and preventive care, while promoting equitable, tooth-preserving treatment options for asylum seekers and refugees.