In Denmark, the social democratic Nordic welfare paradise, universal healthcare does not cover dental care for adults. If you're really poor and have an emergency you might have some luck begging the local municipality to pay for having the offending tooth pulled out but that's about it.

The result is a wide class disparity in dental health and even people who are not poor think twice before going to the dentist, resulting in issues growing worse than they had to be.

Some private insurance exists but they are free to reject you as a customer if your dental health is already bad.

Nobody likes the current system or want to be seen defending it. The only argument that's given for maintaining the status quo is that doing the right thing would be too expensive.