Patient satisfaction is a rather complicated issue. This paper describes the results of a pilot study regarding the influence of dentists’ communication styles on patient satisfaction. A distinction was made between an affective and a control style. The study was conducted among 11 dentists and 22 patients. The results of this study indicated that dentists’ communication styles were somewhat associated with patient satisfaction. It was suggested that dentists should not only give information to patients adequately, but should also pay attention to their personal communication style.

Purpose: To study the effect of professionally applied topical fluoride on oral health status on the population level in adolescents with lower socio-economic status. Adolescents attending dental clinics where professional fluoride application is a routine procedure (high-fluoride group) were compared to adolescents from other clinics (low-fluoride group). The study consisted of a questionnaire, a clinical examination with two bitewing radiographs. X-rays showed no statistically significant differences in the number of DS, FS or DFS. Clinically, there were no statistically significant differences in the number of FS or in the number of DFS. The low-fluoride group had a statistically significant higher number of DS than the high-fluoride group. The results suggest that professionally applied fluoride has a limited effect on caries and treatment experience in a population. These results justify a randomised clinical trial to study the effectiveness of professionally applied topical fluorides.

Dental anxiety is a common problem. Different tests have been developed to measure the nature and the severity of dental anxiety or phobia. These tests can help to identify highly anxious patients who need special dental care. In this article, the dental anxiety tests useful in The Netherlands are reviewed.

High concentrations (80-90%) of ethanol seem to be best for use in the dental office. A mixture of 80% ethanol and 5% isopropanol was shown to inactivate HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses within 20 seconds. Compared with alternative antiviral disinfectants, such a mixture is non allergenic and minimally toxic for the dental team. It is suitable for spraying or for the spray-wipe-spray technique as an important cross-infection control measure in dentistry.

A 46-year old man presented a hyperplasia of the marginal gingiva of a mandibular molar. The reason of the hyperplasia could be found after further anamnestic questions: irritation by pressure of an ill-fitting scuba-diving mouthpiece. The patient was sports-diver and instructor. After instructions to the patient and an expectative approach, the hyperplasia disappeared spontaneously within a few months, without any kind of therapy.

The present generation finds oneself at a shift in understanding of technology. On the one side people are from a world described as comprehensible. On the other side people are living in a virtual, for many of them uncomprehensible world. The changes do not only concern the digitilizing of society, but there are also social tendencies, like individualization and several kinds of civil disobedience. In this article the attitude of authors to scientific publishers is serving as an example.

The presentation of health information on the internet is still growing. Securing the quality and objectivity of health related websites is at issue. The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) is aware of the need of reliable information and recently launched a trustmark for health related sites on internet.