Responsibilities of the national associations

A National Dental Association should contribute to the organization and delivery of dental care in all its aspects. One of the principal challenges in certain countries is to solve the current manpower problem. Despite early warnings from the Dutch Dental Association, 500 dentists in The Netherlands are now unemployed. The effects are not confined to the practising profession for dental education and research also suffer. Steps taken by the Dutch Association to alleviate the problem are described.