Specialised dental practitioner trained in an EU or EEA Member State
Only persons duly legalised by Valvira are allowed to perform the duties of legalised health care professionals. Valvira grants the right to practise the profession of specialised dental practitioner on application to medical professionals trained in Finland and abroad.
Applying for the right to practise
Fill in the application form (pdf) (in finnish). Send the application and appendices to Valvira as e-mail attachments or by mail. If you submit all the relevant documents with your application, the application process will be quicker. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents and reports. You do not need to send to Valvira any documents that you have already sent earlier.
Send your completed application and appendices by e-mail to: [email protected].
Please note that e-mail is not recommended for sending confidential information. You can send a secure e-mail via the Valvira secure message service. Further information on how to deliver material to Valvira by e-mail can be found on our website.
OR send your completed application and appendices by mail to:
National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira)
PO Box 43
FI-00521 Helsinki
Append copies of the following documents to your application:
- Passport or ID card (i.e. document verifying your identity and nationality)
- Specialist dentist’s degree certificate and dentist’s degree certificate.
- Certificate of sufficient language proficiency. Further information on language proficiency requirements is available on our website.
If you do not submit a certificate of language proficiency, Valvira can only recognise your professional qualifications. In order to be eligible for this, you must be a citizen of an EU or EEA Member State or a person of comparable status, and you must have completed your training in an EU or EEA Member State. Recognition of professional qualifications does not automatically entitle you to practise your profession or to use a protected occupational title in Finland. Further information on the recognition of professional qualifications.
The appendices listed below in points 4–6 may be necessary for resolving your application. Valvira may also be able to verify the information directly with the competent authority in the relevant EU or EEA Member State, in which case you do not need to submit these documents. This verification may delay the processing of your application. If Valvira is unable to verify the information with the competent authority, then you must submit the relevant certificates yourself. - A certificate verifying that your right to practise the profession in question has not been restricted or revoked (e.g. Certificate of Current Professional Status). This certificate must be no more than three months old when received by Valvira. You must submit such a certificate from every country where you have been legalised to practise your profession. OR If you want Valvira to check your credentials directly with the competent authority, then you need to declare all the countries in which you have been granted the right to practise your profession.
- Certificate issued by a competent authority stating how your professional qualifications fulfil the requirements of Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications.
- Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of the documents listed in points 4 and 5. The translations must have been produced by an authorised translator in Finland or in another EU/EEA Member State. Authorised translators in Finland can be found through the online service of the National Agency for Education. If the translator is not an official or authorised translator in an EU/EEA Member State, the translation may nevertheless be acceptable if the translator’s status is confirmed by Apostille or Grand Legalisation.
Valvira may request further explanations as necessary. Please note that Valvira will not return any documents submitted or make copies.
If any documents are missing from your application that Valvira requires, Valvira will request them from you within 30 days of receiving your application. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents. If no further information is required, it is possible that your application will be processed within 30 days.
The processing period for applications is 4 months, as specified in the Act on Health Care Professionals. The processing period is laid down in the relevant EU Directive and is the same in all Member States.
Valvira charges a fee for every decision concerning licences to practise a profession, including when an application is denied. Half the processing fee is payable if you withdraw your application.
Types of fee include:
- Legalisation of a professional EUR 600
- Recognition of professional qualifications EUR 400
- Legalisation once proof of language proficiency is received after recognition of professional qualification EUR 200
- Legalisation as a specialist dentist if not previously legalised as a physician EUR 800
The decision on the right to practise a profession will be issued in Finnish or Swedish. The invoice will be sent separately by post after the decision.
You will find the information on the rights to practise granted to you in JulkiTerhikki or JulkiSuosikki.
Rights to practise granted may be viewed in the public information services for social welfare and health care professionals (JulkiSuosikki and JulkiTerhikki, respectively) after the decision is issued or the registration is made. The register data are updated once a day.
A right to practise granted for a fixed term will be visible in the public information service only while it is valid,
Valvira may send you any requests for further information, certificates and decisions electronically as a Suomi.fi message if you have registered in that service. Suomi.fi messages may only be used for matters that are currently pending. You may register for Suomi.fi messages at the suomi.fi website or by downloading the Suomi.fi mobile app.
In application matters, we will only deal with the applicants themselves. However, an applicant may authorise an agent or an assistant to act on their behalf in the matter of their application. In this case, the agent or assistant must present a power of attorney authorising them to act for the applicant. The power of attorney may be an e-mail or physical document sent by the applicant, stating that the applicant authorises the person in question to act for them in the matter of the application. However, attorneys-at-law and public legal aid attorneys do not need to present said document unless specifically requested.