[Priorities and recommendations in oral health care for older people]

The oral health of older people in the Netherlands, especially those who are vulnerable and dependent on care, is insufficient. Older people and other stakeholders participated in a so-called Priority Setting Partnership study to identify hindrances that have been experienced in oral health care and to distil from their experience items for the agenda for further research. For this reason, discussions were held in 5 focus groups with respectively 1 group of older people, caregivers, external parties and health care professionals. In a fifth focus group, a so-called 'consensus group', the definitive list of prioritised items on the agenda was formulated. The most important priorities concern policy and organisation of oral health care, awareness, cooperation among various health care professionals, the financing and organisation of oral health care for older people living at home and education concerning oral health care for all health care professionals. Awareness about the importance of good oral health for older people among health care professionals is the first step towards better oral health care for older people in the Netherlands.