The oral health of people with a lower income is worse than that of people with a higher income. The Dutch with poor oral health, who do not have additional dental insurance, also went to the dentist the least in the past two years.
This is reflected in figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) today (Thursday). Nearly 80 percent of adults visited the dentist at least once in the past year. Fewer people went within the lower income group: 70 percent, compared to 87 percent in the highest income group.
Women are more likely to be positive about their oral health than men. Income disparities are also apparent here. Statistics Netherlands figures show that people with a lower income perceive their oral health as good or very good less often than people with a higher income.
The vast majority of adults in the years 2020 and 2021 were positive about the health of their teeth and gums: 71 percent said the condition is ‘good’ or ‘very good’, 23 percent answered ‘I’m fine’, 6 percent said ‘ bad or very bad’.
Insured?
The results come from the health survey of 2020 and 2021, an annual survey that attempts to provide a picture of the health, health care use and lifestyle of the Dutch population and the developments therein. 16,000 adults were surveyed for this.
Of them, 59 percent indicated that they had supplementary dental insurance. Slightly fewer people on lower incomes have supplementary insurance than people on higher incomes. People with supplementary dental insurance reported more frequent visits to the dentist than people without such insurance, regardless of their oral health. People with (very) poor oral health without additional dental insurance went to the dentist least often.
Backwards?
It is impossible to say whether the oral health of the average Dutch person has deteriorated during corona times, says Tanja Traag, chief sociologist at CBS. “Based on this series, which runs for three years, we cannot say whether there is a backlog or progress. The question is what it will be like next year, now that more people are keeping their purse strings.”
Statistics Netherlands sees a clear relationship between health and income. People with a poorer health status more often came from households with a lower income.
Statistics Netherlands marks people who have poorer oral health and who do not have supplementary dental insurance as a ‘possible risk group’, because they may need the care that is reimbursed under such supplementary insurance.
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