Dentist, orthodontics, glasses: what the CNS reimburses and what you still pay

The CNS: an excellent base with precise gaps

As a CNS member, you are reimbursed 88% of consultations with a GP or specialist (100% under 18) at the agreed rates. For everyday care, it is one of the most generous schemes in Europe. Out-of-pocket costs concentrate on four items: dental prostheses, reimbursed at 80%; orthodontics, covered only under conditions; eyewear, with a frame capped at €30 every three years; and the private hospital room, which is not covered at all.

Dental care, the number one out-of-pocket item

Routine conservative care (fillings, scaling, extractions) is covered at the agreed rates. The gap widens on prostheses: crowns, bridges and implants are only reimbursed at 80%, and at 100% only if you can show an annual preventive visit over the two previous years. This rule is the most profitable piece of advice in this article: one check-up a year takes you from 80% to 100% cover on the day a crown becomes necessary.

Orthodontics follows a different logic: the CNS only covers it with prior approval and for treatment started in childhood. For an adult, most of the cost remains out of pocket.

What a top-up plan adds

These are exactly the items on which complementary health plans differ. The CMCM mutual works without a medical questionnaire or age limit, covers the whole family at no extra cost and applies a simple three-month waiting period; its levels (Régime Commun, Prestaplus, Denta & Optiplus) go up to €3,500 a year for dental prostheses, with a one-off €2,000 allowance for adult orthodontics and €1,000 per eye for laser surgery. Order of magnitude recorded in August 2026: €36.73 a month for Régime Commun with Prestaplus in the 30-39 age bracket.

Private insurers apply a medical questionnaire but offer higher ceilings: DKV (LALUX group) goes up to first class with the head physician, €500 of eyewear every two years and €3,000 of laser surgery in its EASY HEALTH plan, with a dental waiting period of up to eight months; Foyer offers medicis in hospi+ and confort; AXA structures OptiSoins in Start, Active and Privilège. A tax point not to forget: complementary health premiums are deductible as special expenses (article 111 L.I.R.) up to €672 a year per member of the tax household, mutual contributions included.

Choosing in four questions

• Do you accept a medical questionnaire? None at CMCM; a questionnaire at DKV, Foyer and AXA.
• What waiting period? Three months in general, up to eight months for dental care at DKV, often waived if you were already covered.
• What dental and eyewear ceilings? This is where the differences between offers are widest.
• Does a private room matter to you? The first reason people subscribe: check the conditions, surgery class and alternative allowance.

Going further

Our comparison of complementary health plans in Luxembourg puts CMCM, DKV, Foyer and AXA side by side, dental and eyewear ceilings included, and our health insurance page details the guarantees item by item. If you work in Luxembourg while living across the border, read our article on cross-border workers’ insurance first: the top-up plan is chosen on the side where you actually receive care.