[Professional practice by female dentists in the Netherlands].
OBJECTIVE: Obtaining information about differences between male and female dentists in practising dentistry and about changes in practice arrangements. DESIGN: Descriptive analysis, using SPSS (CROSSTABS, ANOVA, HOMALS), based on information on the way(s) dentists practice their profession. SETTING: Department of Research of the Dutch Dental Association (NMT), Nieuwegien, The Netherlands. METHODS: A survey by means of a questionnaire, among a representative sample of 229 female dentists and a representative sample of 483 male dentists. RESULTS: Female dentists have on average fewer patients than male dentists, spend fewer working-hours weekly at their chair and practice more often in some form of partnership. Females have a spouse working in the dental practice less often than males and, while the spouse of males most often works as a dental assistant, the spouse of female dentists is most often also a dentist himself. Compared with male dentists, in 1994 female dentists more often had to arrange cover by a locum while in 1995 they had to take more days of leave due to personal illness or exceptional circumstances. CONCLUSION: In the Netherlands there are substantial differences in the practice of the profession by male and female dentists. This is important for the future policy of the NMT with regard to the required manpower in dentistry.