National average dental fee schedule 2025: a reference for the medicolegal evaluation of economic damages in Italian Civil Law

BACKGROUND The medicolegal evaluation of dental damages in civil litigation plays a crucial role in establishing causal relationships and determining appropriate therapeutic interventions to restore pre-injury functional and aesthetic conditions. This assessment also includes anticipating future treatment needs, especially in prosthetic and conservative dental care, based on the average clinical lifespan of interventions. Medicolegal consultants are responsible for verifying the adequacy of dental expenses, both incurred and projected, submitted by claimants, particularly in insurance and civil liability disputes. METHODS In Italy, the abolition of national minimum fees for medical and dental services resulted in the development of alternative nomenclatures and fee schedules by professional associations and scientific societies between 2005 and 2009. These initiatives aimed to create a standardized and transparent framework for communication between dental professionals and patients. The study evaluates national dental treatment costs by applying inflation-adjusted criteria to the fee schedules established by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and the National Association of Italian Dentists (ANDI) in 2009. Additionally, reimbursement data from private insurance providers and fee schedules from the Italian Academy of Legal and Forensic Dentistry and regional Dental Councils are integrated into the analysis. RESULTS The study proposes a National Average Dental Fee Schedule 2025, calibrated to reflect contemporary clinical, economic, and professional realities. This updated fee schedule is 8.8% lower than the 2009 ANDI fee schedule and 13.7% lower than national fee schedules developed by the Italian Academy of Legal and Forensic Dentistry. The new schedule aims to serve as a standardized reference in legal and forensic dentistry, aligning with best practices for assessing economic damages in civil dental law cases and evaluating the appropriateness of dental service costs. CONCLUSIONS The National Average Dental Fee Schedule 2025 offers a comprehensive economic reassessment of dental treatment costs in Italy, addressing the technological, commercial, and organizational changes in the dental sector. By adapting to current realities, this new fee schedule provides a valuable tool for medicolegal professionals in assessing economic damages and determining the reasonableness of dental service expenses in civil legal proceedings.