Young Dentists in The Netherlands: Work Situation and Future Plans

Objectives: Young dentists in the Netherlands regard the first few years after completing their studies as an orientation phase in which they gain experience and generate ideas about the way in which they wish to work eventually. Not much is known, however, about how they fare (work situation, experience in and ideas about practising the profession and professional planning). Since this information ís of importance for policies on professional manpower in dentistry, the Dutch Dental Association (NMT) conducted research into this subject.

Methods: In May 2007 all 663 dentists who graduated in 2004, 2005 or 2006 were invited to participate in a web survey, of whom 331 (50%) responded. The data was analysed by using SPSS.

Results: Most (65%) of the young dentists work in the practice of a colleague and 11% is active within an (educational) institute. The remaining 24% work in their own practice. In the future, however, 64% wish to work in their own practice. This mainly applies to men and less so to women (p < 0.05). Young dentists wish to work in the future on average 32.8 hours per week. This number of hours is higher for men than for women (p < 0.05). Almost all (90%) the dentists wish to work together with a colleague in the future when rendering care. Most of them are also in favour of referring or delegating care tasks to oral hygienists (96%) and/or prevention assistants (82%). Almost two thirds (64%) wish to differentiate in one or more specific areas of dentistry. Oral implantology is mentioned the most frequently.

Conclusion: Via the web survey the NMT obtained a detailed view on the work situation, the ideas and plans for the future of young dentists. This offers useful points of departure to outline policies.