General

Dentist-geriatrics and dental hygienist-geriatrics

All dental healthcare professionals have the required basic competencies for providing care to (frail) older people. Because of differences in both affinity with the relevant issues and clinical practice, not all dental healthcare professionals will become familiar enough with frail older people to be able to responsibly handle complex cases. That is why professionals who have developed specific competencies in this area have an important role to play. Those specific competencies, which comprise knowledge, skills, and attitude, have been acquired through an additional educational course and by dealing with these complex cases more often than the average dental healthcare provider. Dentists who have these specific competencies are allowed to call themselves ‘tandarts-geriatrie’ (dentist-geriatrics; TGe). Dental hygienists can now also request the differentiation ‘geriatrics’ (MhGe). You can find more information in the pull-down menus.

Coordinating dental caregiver

Since 2003, caregivers in nursing homes in the Netherlands can be trained for the position of coordinating dental caregiver. Caregivers with a prior education level of MBO 3 or higher can follow an additional training course to become a dental care specialist (‘aandachtsvelder’). The training is also open to other disciplines that wish to set up a dental training project in their nursing home. The basis for this training is the regulation “Mondzorg voor zorgafhankelijke cliënten in verpleeghuizen” (Dental care for care-dependent clients in nursing homes), supplemented with the latest practice-based experiences and practical exercises. You can find a list of training providers arranged by city here: training providers.

TGe or MhGe registration

The NVGd (Dutch Association for Gerodontology) has created a system for the accreditation of dentists-geriatrics and dental hygienists-geriatrics. 

• Learn more about registration as dentist-geriatrics
• Learn more about registration as dental hygienist-geriatrics