ZiN report on children's oral health provides insufficient basis for policy choices!

31-01-2019

On 19 November 2018, the National Health Care Institute (ZiN) presented the 2018 Oral Care Report to Minister Bruins. The Ivoren Cross is of the opinion that ZiN's approach to base policy on this report alone is incorrect: the population studied is not representative of Dutch children.

On 19 November 2018, the National Health Care Institute (ZiN) presented the 2018 Oral Care Report to Minister Bruins. ZiN proposes to make future policy based on the conclusions of TNO's 'Choose teeth: main measurement 2017'. The purport is that the oral health of the 5-year-olds has improved, while the oral health of the other age groups has stagnated or even deteriorated. The Ivoren Cross is of the opinion that ZiN's approach to base policy on this report alone is incorrect: the population studied is not representative of Dutch children.

The Ivoren Cross is a scientific association of dentists, dental hygienists and other oral care providers. It is a knowledge center with the ambition to raise oral health in the Netherlands to such a high level that a healthy mouth and perfect teeth are within reach for every resident from childhood to old age. The association has existed for 110 years.

In our opinion, ZiN's proposal to base policy solely on this TNO report takes too little account of the fact that the results of the study are based on a selective response. As a result, we miss information about the oral health of children who do not visit an oral care professional, and unfortunately there are too many of them. The results of dental care research from Rotterdam and data from health insurers about children who never or irregularly visit a dental care professional are not involved in ZiN's proposal. Another TNO study from 2017 shows that in Krachtwijken in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hoogezand-Sappemeer and Sittard-Geleen, the oral health of children, especially those with a non-Dutch cultural affiliation, is much worse than the oral health of the population described in the research on which ZiN bases itself. The Ivoren Cross therefore believes that policymakers should not conclude that the oral health of five-year-old children in the Netherlands is improving. There are plenty of signals and data from the field that suggest the opposite. We are concerned about the access to oral care of large parts of our population and the consequences for the oral health of our population.

Fundamental actions are needed to increase the attention and accessibility of oral care in public health care and to achieve effective preventive care in oral care practices. We also think it is important to continue monitoring oral health in the Netherlands. However, the method of monitoring should be reviewed in order to arrive at representative results on which policy can be properly based.