A quarter of Dutch people avoid the dentist due to costs

Healthy teeth are anything but self-evident for many Dutch people. Not because they don't brush their teeth, but because they simply don't go to the dentist.

Recent research by CBS shows that almost a quarter of adults in the Netherlands sometimes postpone a visit to the dentist or even skip it altogether because of the costs. People with a lower income in particular avoid the check-up chair. In that group, it even concerns one in three.

And that while dental problems without prompt care only get worse (and more expensive). It shows how money, or the lack thereof, directly affects someone's health. It's not just about the dentist. The general practitioner, who is reimbursed from the basic package, is also often avoided by people with a lower income.

Fear of extra costs, or the feeling that they are not taken seriously, plays a role. For example, 15 percent of people in the lowest income group say that they have less chance of good care. For the highest incomes, that is only 3 percent.

Metro wrote last December that young people in particular avoid the dentist because of the bill . In another article, dentists themselves sounded the alarm : 'A 4-year-old already had five cavities.'

The visit to the dentist is just one of the signals in a broader study of inequality of opportunity in the Netherlands. This year, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) not only looked at healthcare, but also at education, the labour market and the housing market. And it shows: not everyone starts in the same place. A fifth of adults think that their parents' financial situation has negatively affected their chances at school. In some regions, such as Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, almost a quarter even feel disadvantaged by where they grew up.

Differences also play a role at work. A third of employees say they feel they have fewer opportunities than their colleagues, for example in terms of promotion or a permanent contract. Age and education level are the most frequently cited reasons for this inequality.

The problem is broader than just education or care. Participating in society, for example by playing sports, having a telephone, celebrating birthdays, going out for dinner, simply costs money. If that is not available, a vicious circle arises: fewer opportunities at school, fewer opportunities for work, less income and therefore even less access to care or facilities. According to the CBS, poverty plays a key role in this: those who are financially strapped have less room to fully participate in society on all kinds of fronts.

The fact that the dentist is now almost a symbol of inequality of opportunity says a lot. Because although we often think that everyone in the Netherlands has access to good care, this research shows that in practice it is very different. Those who have money go for a check-up twice a year. Those who have to get by on little are more likely to think: I'll wait a while.

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