PhilHealth pays for your dental check-up. Most people don’t know.
Since December 2024 every PhilHealth member and dependent has up to ₱1,000 a year for preventive dental care. Here is what that buys, how to use it, and how an HMO card works alongside it.
PhilHealth
What it covers, per year
- ₱300 × 2 visits
- Two visits at least four months apart. Each covers an oral screening, a cleaning (prophylaxis) and fluoride varnish.
- ₱200 per tooth
- Pit-and-fissure sealants or small (Class V) fillings, up to two teeth a year.
- Emergency extraction
- When a tooth has to come out urgently.
- ₱1,000 cap
- The most PhilHealth pays per member per year for all of the above.
How to use it
- 1Be registered with a YAKAP (formerly Konsulta) primary-care provider. Registration is free at any YAKAP clinic.
- 2Ask your YAKAP clinic for a dental referral, or go to a PhilHealth-accredited dental clinic linked to one.
- 3Bring your PhilHealth number and an ID. The clinic files the claim, not you.
- 4Space the two visits four months apart so both are paid.
What you pay
At government facilities, nothing. A private clinic may charge the difference above PhilHealth’s rate, but the circular caps it: ₱1,500 for the preventive package and ₱600 for an emergency extraction.
Accredited clinics in this directory
Accreditation is the clinic’s to keep current; ask before you rely on it. Source: PhilHealth Circular 2024-0034.
HMO cards
What is usually covered
Consultation, a cleaning once or twice a year, simple extractions, temporary fillings and basic gum treatment.
What usually is not
Whitening, veneers, braces, implants, crowns, bridges and most major restorations.
What often needs approval first
Anything beyond a cleaning or consult may need a letter of authorization from your HMO before the dentist can start. Pick your HMO when you book so it goes on the booking, and ask the clinic about approval before the day.
At the visit
- 1Book at a clinic that lists your HMO — the filter on Find a clinic does this.
- 2Bring the card and a valid ID.
- 3Ask the clinic for the breakdown — covered, approved, and what is yours to pay — before treatment.
Your HMO decides what is covered, how often, and up to what amount; the same procedure can be fully covered on one plan and excluded on another. Acceptance on a clinic page is what the clinic reported. Always confirm with your HMO.
How we handle your health data
Health information is sensitive personal information under the Data Privacy Act of 2012. When you book, your name and mobile number go on the clinic’s record, for your visits and their texts — no marketing, never sold, and nothing new without asking you first. To withdraw, or to ask what is kept, call the clinic on the number on its page; the privacy notice has the rest. If anything ever went wrong with your data, you and the National Privacy Commission would hear from us within 72 hours.