Summary
This longitudinal observational study examined variation in preventive and curative dental care provided by Dutch general dental practitioners to young patients over 4–5 years. The analysis revealed substantial treatment variation between practices that cannot be explained by patient caries risk alone, with 35.8% of patients receiving occasional or regular prevention with no curative treatment, and 45.2% maintaining low caries risk throughout. The findings suggest that some patients may be receiving either more or less care than clinically necessary, indicating unwarranted variation in dental practice patterns.
Regional applicability
The study's findings on treatment variation and the lack of alignment between preventive care provision and curative care patterns may be relevant to NHS dental practice audits and quality improvement initiatives in the United Kingdom. However, differences in Dutch dental reimbursement systems, patient demographics, and primary care organisation may limit direct applicability to UK general dental practice.
Key measures
Preventive care patterns (three categories: no prevention, occasional prevention, regular prevention); curative care patterns (three categories: no curation, curation in 1 year, curation in several years); caries risk classification based on caries-related treatments (low, elevated, high); longitudinal caries risk profiles comparing risk in first and last 2 years of dataset
Outcomes reported
The study analysed longitudinal patterns of oral healthcare services provided by general dental practitioners to young patients over 4–5 years (2013–2017), classifying patients into preventive care patterns (none, occasional, regular) and curative care patterns (none, in 1 year, in several years). It measured variation in care provision across practices and the relationship between caries risk profiles and the type of care delivered.
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