Qualification of dental assistants in the Netherlands

Objectives: The qualification degree and the work situation of dental assistants in the Netherlands is not transparant. In order to gain more insight into this matter the Dutch Dental Association (NMT) conducted research. The views and wishes as regards the qualifications of dental assistants of the assistants themselves and of the dentists in whose practice they work were also taken into account.

Methods: In November 2007 836 dental assistants and 340 dentists for whom they work were asked to fill in a questionnaire. The questionnaires for the various groups were, content wise, partly identical, partly different. The dental assistants and the dentists in a practice were asked to answer the questions independently. 502 (60%) and 256 (75%) resp. of the participants responded. The data was analysed using SPSS.

Results: All the dental assistants say that they received training in the dental practice. In addition, 43% did the recognised study for dental assistants and (62%) (also) did specific training courses to enhance their skills. The daily tasks of by far most of the assistants include receiving patients (83%), assisting with treatment (84%), taking care of the patient administration (83%) and the practice organisation(88%). Many of them (72%) also render patient care individually on a daily basis, whereas 38% has daily management tasks. 37% of the dental assistants say the recognised study is bad, 43% neither good nor bad and 20% say good, whereas 33% consider the qualification degree in the profession too low. The respective percentages for dentists are 22%, 56%, 22% and 19%.

Conclusion: This research resulted in further insight in the qualifications of dental assistants in the Netherlands, and also in the assistants' views on this subject and those of the dentists in whose practice they work. This information will be used by the Dutch Dental Association (NMT) and other organisations when they make policies on this subject.