I'm furious. My country, The Netherlands is living off foreign dental education. Since I went to university 20y ago I learned, 'within 10 years there will be a shortage' because more dentists will be retiring then graduating. It's basic demographics. The government did nothing.
At the moment 1 in 4 dentists is foreign, in my region (Zeeland) it's 1 in 2. While there are plenty of capable and ambitious young Dutch who want to become a dentist. But no, €30M a year for over 90 extra places is too expensive. Ofcourse a vision, and decent policies is way too hard or too much work for our minister. Because in the future those costs will be compensated by income tax, while an undertreated population is probably more expensive. But those expenses are directly for people and employers.
No additional dental training places despite growing shortage
Despite the mounting shortage of dentists, no additional training places are being created for students wishing to become dentists. This is according to a letter sent to the House of Representatives today by Minister of Education Rianne Letschert. According to the minister, expanding the dentistry training program is "very costly," requiring an annual investment of €30.1 million.
With this decision, the minister is disregarding the advice of the *Capaciteitsorgaan* (Capacity Body), an independent foundation that assesses future workforce needs for dentists and other healthcare professionals. Last December, the advisory body recommended increasing the number of training places to 386 per year. Currently, there are 270 places, rising to 290 next year.
'Training programs have capacity 'Etienne Verheijck, Director of Education at the ACTA dentistry faculty in Amsterdam, is disappointed that the minister is not adopting the recommendation. "We consider this unwise. We had hoped the advice would be followed, even if only partially. Yes, it costs money, but the training programs have the capacity to educate more students."
The shortage of dentists is expected to worsen in the coming years. The *Capaciteitsorgaan* has been recommending an increase in training places since 2009. Hans de Vries, chairman of the professional association for dentists (KNMT), calls it "downright worrying" and "incomprehensible" that the minister is dismissing the advice. In doing so, she would be blocking "a structural solution to keep Dutch dental care accessible in the future."
More dental hygienists However, Minister Letschert has decided to train more students as dental hygienists. Starting in the 2027–2028 academic year, an additional 28 students will be permitted to begin the dental hygiene program, bringing the total to 381.
According to the minister, this increase is necessary due to the growing trend of dentists delegating tasks, with dental hygienists taking over some of the work previously performed by dentists. The letter to Parliament does not specify the additional costs involved.
Foreign dentists In the Netherlands, the shortage of dentists is increasingly being addressed by dentists from abroad. Figures from the KNMT show that one in four practicing dentists in the Netherlands was trained abroad. In some regions, such as Zeeland, this figure has already reached one in two.