Does research intensity reflect dental care demand?

In this paper we address the question whether (i) the Dutch dental research portfolio reflects the dental care demand, and whether (ii) the results of this research does reach the dental care professionals. In order to answer these questions, we analyzed the content of the Dutch Journal of Dentistry (NTvT), a Dutch language professional journal which explicitly aims at disseminating useful knowledge to dental professionals. The research topics addressed in the journal were compared with (i) dental publications written by authors with a Dutch affiliation in international journals and with (ii) expenditures in the various types of oral healthcare. The analysis shows topical change over time, with more emphasis in NTvT on topics as social dentistry, and less attention for basic science topics. At the same time, the Dutch dental research portfolio (reflected by publications in international journals) does not reflect that trend. In addition, it appears that the largest domains of care with the highest share of oral healthcare expenditures (e.g. cariology and prevention) have the lowest attention in research. This applies to both international publications, as to the research disseminated through the professional journal NTvT.