Summary

Japan is made up of 126 million inhabitants and is the third largest economic power in the world. The health system is based on a single universal mandatory insurance, with medical and dental coverage. In recent decades, population aging has been an important point to consider in the planning of public health policies. The efficiency of this system has been a point of comparison with different countries, but not with Chile. Therefore, the objective of this narrative review is to compare the Chilean and Japanese oral health systems.
A narrative review was carried out using the scientific journal repositories Science Direct and PubMed, as well as publications available on government websites in Japan and Chile.
Japanese insurance prioritizes health promotion and disease prevention, emphasizing the most vulnerable population. On the contrary, in Chile the health system emphasizes healing and rehabilitation. Japan has adopted insurance due to the demographic and epidemiological transition, to guarantee the sustainability of the system over time, a model that could be applied in Chile; considering population aging and the burden of chronic non-communicable diseases.
Both countries have advantages and limitations in the attributes of their health systems. Chile has an integrated health services network and has implemented policies such as GES. Japan has a universal, more efficient and equitable system. The strengths of the Japanese system could be implemented in Chile, through new public policies that strengthen the country's health, including dentistry.