[Secular trends of caries prevalence among 6 and 12 year-old youths in the Netherlands]. / Trends in de prevalentie van cariës bij de 6- en 12-jarige jeugd in Nederland.

In order to gain insight into the development of caries prevalence and caries experience among Dutch youth, a meta-analysis was carried out on epidemiological caries data collected in 5 and 6 and 11 and 12 year-olds between 1980 and 2009. From the present analysis it appears that after the mid-1980's a halt occurred in the decline of caries experience in the primary dentition among 5 and 6 year-olds. At the same time, the percentage of children with a caries-free primary dentition who were covered by public health insurance or participated in institutions for youth dental care decreased. Among 11 to 12 year-olds there is no indication that the prevalence of caries in the permanent dentition has changed. Considering the high percentage of 12 year-olds with a caries-free permanent dentition, an additional improvement in oral health for this age-group will be difficult to achieve. The average restorative index of the primary dentition in 5-6 year-old children covered by public health insurance and children in The Hague appears not to have changed dramatically in the last 15 years.

Cosmetic dental treatment in an adult Dutch population.

In 1992 a follow-up to the Dutch national dental survey of 1986 (DNDS) was performed. The main objective was to analyse changes in oral self care, dental attendance, and oral health status. A postal questionnaire was used: 936 persons (44 per cent response) participated in the study. This paper will focus on the results concerning cosmetic dental treatment. Stepwise regression analyses were used to study the effect of dental and social variables. Relative risks (RR) were computed to clarify the effect of these variables. Of the group of respondents, 90 persons reported having been treated with veneers on their anterior teeth. The variables indicating cosmetic dental treatment needs established during the DNDS clinical dental examination, showed a statistically significant influence. 'Objective need': RR = 2.6; 'Subjective need': RR = 2.1. Out of 877 respondents with restorations present in 1986, 19 per cent reported having one or more of them replaced by composite or porcelain. Four variables were found to have a statistically significant influence: 'Subjective need': RR = 1.7; 'Number of filled tooth surfaces': RR = 1.6; 'Number of decayed tooth surfaces': RR = 1.4; and 'Frequency of toothbrushing': RR = 1.6. Whereas the dentists' opinions had the most influence on having veneer treatments, the patients' opinions had more influence on having amalgam restorations replaced with composite or porcelain.