TOO is an adapted dental health service for adults with severe dental anxiety or difficulties following torture or abuse. You can contact a TOO team yourself. If you meet the criteria, anxiety treatment and dental treatment within the service are covered until your teeth have been rehabilitated.
What is TOO, and who is the service for?
TOO helps people who have serious difficulties receiving dental treatment. The target group includes people who have experienced torture, abuse or violence in close relationships, and people with severe dental anxiety.
The abbreviation refers to an adapted dental service for people affected by torture or abuse and people with odontophobia. Odontophobia means an intense fear of dental treatment. You do not need to have experienced torture or abuse for your dental anxiety to be considered.
You must have significant difficulties receiving dental treatment because of anxiety, want psychological treatment yourself and be able to benefit from the methods or adapted dental care. The team assesses this. Being a little nervous does not automatically qualify you.
What applies to refugees and asylum seekers?
Refugees and asylum seekers who have not yet been settled in a municipality are not covered by the TOO service. Contact the dental health service or healthcare professionals where you live about help under other schemes.
This is described in the Norwegian Directorate of Health’s current rules for TOO. The rules concern a service for adults. If you belong to a group that already has a right to public dental care, the county authority must provide an equivalent adapted service. Ask the public dental clinic to clarify which scheme applies.
This guide was checked on 3 October 2026 against Helsenorge’s information about dental care and TOO and the national TOO website. For ordinary prices and other support schemes, SamfunnPrep has a separate guide to dentists in Norway.
Is TOO mainly dental treatment or anxiety treatment?
TOO is primarily anxiety treatment related to dental care. The aim is for you eventually to be able to visit an ordinary dentist.
A multidisciplinary team means that several professional groups work together. In this service, you meet a psychologist and dental health professionals. They work on what makes dental treatment difficult for you.
Trøndelag County Authority describes TOO treatment with gradual practice. The practice involves situations in dental care that cause fear. Treatment is adapted to you, and you must take an active part.
TOO is therefore more than having a tooth repaired while you are asleep. It is not a promise of general anaesthesia either. Ask the team how anxiety treatment and any dental treatment will be carried out in your situation.
Do you need a referral from your GP?
You can contact a TOO clinic yourself. You can also ask a dentist, dental hygienist, doctor or psychologist to contact the service for you.
You do not need to book an appointment with your regular GP just to ask about TOO. The national website describes direct contact as one option.
If it is difficult to explain your situation on your own, a healthcare provider can help. Start by saying what makes dental treatment difficult and that you would like an assessment. You do not need to write a detailed account of abuse in an ordinary first email.
You can use this short message:
I have serious difficulties going through dental treatment and would like an assessment for TOO. How can I contact the right team, and what information do you need?
Ask which secure channel the clinic uses for personal information. This gives you a clearer starting point than sending medical records to an arbitrary recipient.
How do you find the right TOO team?
Use the national overview of TOO services and check the clinic’s contact details. You can search by place or postcode.
Find adapted dental care lists clinics and competence centres. The website is run by the Eastern Norway Centre of Competence in Dental Health Services (Tannhelsetjenestens kompetansesenter Øst), often abbreviated TkØ.
You can start like this:
- Search by municipality, a nearby place or your postcode.
- Open the website of the clinic shown in the directory.
- Check who handles TOO enquiries.
- Ask whether the clinic assesses patients from the area where you live.
- Ask about the first conversation and current waiting time.
The directory is a way to find the service, not a confirmed appointment. Services and capacity may change. If a local service has moved or closed, ask the county dental health service where to go.
What happens during the first conversation?
A psychologist assesses what makes dental treatment difficult and whether TOO may be suitable for you. The conversation is an assessment, not a promise that the entire treatment has already been approved.
It may help to describe specific situations. For example, you can explain that you cannot sit in the dental chair, that touch is difficult or that you have left previous appointments. Describe your own experience without trying to diagnose yourself.
You may want to prepare questions:
- How will you organise treatment?
- Who will be on the team?
- What will be expected of me between appointments?
- What dental treatment may be needed after anxiety treatment?
- How do we agree on breaks and what will happen during an appointment?
If you need an interpreter, say so when arranging the appointment. Give the language and ask how the service organises interpretation. SamfunnPrep also explains the right to an interpreter in public services.
What does TOO and later dental treatment cost?
If you meet the criteria, anxiety treatment and dental treatment through TOO are funded by the state until your teeth have been rehabilitated. This is not a general right to free dental care for the rest of your life.
Treatment within the service has no user fee. Travel expenses have a user fee. Ask the team about practical reimbursement. For young adults aged 19 to 28, the grant covers the ordinary 25 per cent user fee in the equivalent service.
Here, rehabilitated means that the teeth have been treated within the relevant programme. Ask the team what this means for your teeth. Clarify which measures are included before treatment starts.
| Part of the process | What you should clarify |
|---|---|
| Assessment by the TOO team | Whether you meet the criteria and may benefit from the service |
| Anxiety treatment | The plan, your participation and whom you will meet |
| Dental treatment through TOO | Which specific procedures are part of rehabilitation |
| Follow-up after TOO ends | Whom you should see next and which payment rules apply |
Do not book expensive treatment with a private dentist of your choice and assume TOO will pay afterwards. First agree on the treatment location and plan with the team. Free treatment within a scheme does not mean every requested procedure is included.
How long will you have to wait?
Waiting times vary by location. The clinic can tell you what applies when you contact it.
Ask when the first assessment may take place and whom to contact if your situation changes.
If you need urgent dental care while waiting, contact a dentist or emergency dental service. Explain that you have anxiety and ask about treatment and payment. Contacting TOO does not mean urgent care has already been arranged.
Keep the name of your contact person and the plan you agree on. SamfunnPrep has tools for everyday life in Norway to help you keep track of services and next steps.
