[Dental caries in the Netherlands at the turn of the century]

In this paper an overview is given of recent studies concerning the prevalence of dental caries in children and adults in The Netherlands. Compared to the oral status in the past, the prevalence in children is still low. The decrease of caries is now also visible in adults up to the age of 45 years. The caries experience of people in older age categories is still high. A significant relationship was found between caries prevalence in children and level of school education of the mother and between caries experience of adults and their level of school education. A relatively high caries prevalence was found in children whose mothers were born in Turkey or Morocco. On the other hand, adults born in these countries had a lower caries experience than native Dutch adults.