uniform value scale for dental services

What does BEMA contain?

BEMA is divided into several sections covering conservative and surgical services, orthodontics, periodontics, dental prosthetics, and the few exceptional implantology cases. Each item has a number, a service description, and a point value. Unlike the private fee schedule, BEMA has no multiplier factor. Changes are decided by the valuation committee, which comprises the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists and the GKV National Association. If no agreement is reached, an expanded committee with impartial members decides. What is not in BEMA is not a statutory benefit.

How does this translate into a fee?

Points multiplied by the point value gives the amount. The point value is negotiated regionally between the relevant Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists and the state associations of health insurance funds. The same service therefore does not necessarily pay the same in Bavaria as in Brandenburg. On 1 January 2026, remuneration in the dental prosthetics area increased by an average of 4.78 percent according to KZBV and the GKV National Association. Budget rules in fee distribution can also limit a practice's turnover. For dental prosthetics, the system works with finding-based fixed subsidies: the fund pays a fixed amount per finding, and anything above that is borne by the patient.

What is the difference from the GOZ?

The two systems are strictly separate. BEMA applies to statutory health insurance patients; the GOZ applies to private patients and for services beyond the statutory catalogue. Around nine in ten patients in Germany are statutory health insurance members, which is why BEMA dominates everyday practice. Mixing the two systems in one treatment is only permitted within narrow limits and with a written agreement.

What does this mean for graduates from EU countries?

BEMA billing is not taught at any university in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, or Croatia, and only marginally in Germany. Proficiency is usually acquired during the time as a preparatory assistant and through seminars run by the statutory dental health insurance associations. Errors in billing lead to corrections and reclaim demands, so clean documentation is worthwhile from the start. The rules also change constantly, making billing a permanent continuing education topic.