Research and Publications
Research articles, pre-prints and conference presentations. Here you will always find the latest research outputs.
September 2025
PRUDENT at the Annual Conference of the German Society for Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP)
At the 2025 Annual DGSMP Conference, the PRUDENT team presented recent work on developing indicators to measure oral health system performance. The presentation highlighted how a comprehensive set of indicators, aligned with health system goals and functions, can assess access and quality of care, reveal inequities, and inform evidence-based policy.
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Katharina Achstetter (TU Berlin) shared insights from the PRUDENT project’s ongoing work across EU countries, emphasizing the importance of indicators that span all health system functions to enable meaningful comparison and support policymakers in identifying gaps and opportunities for improvement in oral health care.
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We thank the DGSMP for providing an excellent platform for scientific exchange and discussion.
The German slides presented at the conference are attached below.
September 2025
Upcoming Event: Round Table at EPH 2025
On Friday, 14 November 2025 (14:00–15:00), the Technical University of Berlin will host a round table at the 18th European Public Health Conference (#EPH2025) in Helsinki titled:
“Placing European patients and providers at the center of decision-making in oral health policies.”
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Chaired by Ruth Waitzberg and Pauline Vassallo, the session features contributions from Katharina Achstetter, Béatrice Durvy, Ave Põld, and Stefan Listl.
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The discussion will present innovative, people-centered approaches from nine European countries, highlighting how patients and providers can be directly involved in shaping oral health policymaking. Topics include:
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Defining essential oral health benefit baskets across the EU
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Social participation in prioritizing services within insurance packages
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Skill-mix and workforce planning
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Consensus-building on system performance indicators
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By engaging stakeholders in financing, coverage, workforce, and performance assessment, this session aims to inspire new initiatives for more inclusive oral health policies in Europe.
Learn more and register here: EPH Conference
July 2025
PRUDENT at IHEA in Bali
We are proud to share that our PhD researcher, Ziade Sarroukh, presented his work at the International Health Economics Association (IHEA) 2025 Congress in Bali.
Ziade organized a session on “The Economics of Dental Care: Shaping Evidence-Informed Policy” together with Jip Janssen, Abdulrahman Ghoneim, and Diego Proaño. During the session, he presented two chapters of his PhD as part of the DeliverProject EU, focusing on the political economy of oral health policy and the use of evidence-informed deliberative prioritization for effective resource allocation.
He also presented findings from his third PhD chapter within the PRUDENT Project on the effects of reduced public coverage on dental attendance in the Netherlands. His work offers valuable evidence that challenges prevailing policy narratives shifting responsibilities to the private sector.
We congratulate Ziade for representing PRUDENT and contributing to important international discussions on health economics and oral health care.
July 2025
Presentation at the IHEA Congress 2025 in Bali
PRUDENT researcher Jip Janssen attended the International Health Economics Association (IHEA) 2025 Congress in Bali, Indonesia. During an organized session titled “The Economics of Dental Care: Shaping Evidence-Informed Policy”, Jip presented findings from his study on oral health workforce planning for the Netherlands. The model was developed as part of work package 5 and is published here: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-024-00957-2.
The congress brought together inspiring researchers and professionals from around the world, offering valuable insights and global perspectives on health economics.
June 2025
Presentation at the IADR Congress 2025 in Barcelona
On June 26th, Stéphanie Tubert-Jeannin presented a research poster at the IADR Congress 2025 in Barcelona, titled “Is the French ‘100% santé’: A Key Reform for Universal Oral Health Coverage?”
The presentation highlighted key findings from the EU-funded PRUDENT project, assessing the impact of the “100% santé” reform implemented in France in 2019 on the utilization of dental services. Using nationwide health insurance claims data (2014 to 2023) and a quasi-experimental design with controlled interrupted time series analyses, the study evaluated trends in dental care use before and after the introduction of no out-of-pocket (OOP) prosthetic treatment options.
The results demonstrated a 60% increase in the use of full dentures following the 2021 rollout of the no-OOP option, with variations by age group but no observed gender differences. Despite the overlapping COVID-19 pandemic complicating interpretation, the study provides robust evidence that the reform led to increased access to prosthetic dental care, particularly among older patients.
By evaluating policy outcomes on oral healthcare utilization, the research underscores the importance of monitoring coverage reforms to support equitable and effective access to essential dental services.
The poster is available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15854235
May 2025
Keynote Lecture at the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland Conference, Newcastle
Prof Chris Vernazza, work package 6 lead from Newcastle University, UK, included emerging results from PRUDENT and also discussed our future planned work as part of keynote lecture entitled “Can we fix NHS dentistry and can health economics help?” at the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland annual conference in May 2025. The audience included members of the whole team providing care for patients with cleft lips and palates as well as service users themselves and the presentation sparked some interesting discussions about what the role of NHS dentistry in the UK should be and some of the challenges of access to care for cleft service users.
May 2025
“Reduced Public Coverage Did Not Decrease Dental Visits”: Fact or Fiction?
This newly published study evaluates the effects of reduced public dental coverage in the Netherlands on dental attendance, using population-level data from Statistics Netherlands between 1981 and 2019.
Applying an interrupted time series design, the analysis reveals a clear decline in dental visits following the 1995 reform, both immediately and in subsequent years. These findings challenge dominant policy narratives and highlight the importance of evaluating public coverage reforms in oral health systems.
Z. Sarroukh, P. Jeurissen, S. Listl. “Reduced Public Coverage Did Not Decrease Dental Visits”: Fact or Fiction? Journal of Dental Research, OnlineFirst, May 2024.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00220345251332194
March 2025
Presentation at the 17th Annual Conference of the German Health Economics Association (dggö) Paderborn
On March 24–25, Lukas Schöner participated in the 17th Annual Conference of the German Health Economics Association (dggö), held in Paderborn. During the conference, he presented a research poster titled “Unveiling Market Failures in Oral Health: Mapping Coverage and Financing in 14 European Countries.”
The presentation showcased key findings from the EU-funded PRUDENT project, offering a comprehensive analysis of the current coverage and financing mechanisms for oral health care across a selection of European countries. It emphasized the methodological approach used to identify critical gaps in coverage and exposed potential market failures within the existing systems.
By mapping these mechanisms and blind spots, the research lays the groundwork for evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at improving equity, transparency, and efficiency in oral health care provision throughout Europe.
The poster is available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15187871.
December 2024
PRUDENT Work package 2: List of Data Sources on Oral Health Care
PRUDENT aims to improve the financing and monitoring of oral health care systems in Europe. Milestone 3 focuses on identifying relevant data sources on oral health outcomes, risk factors, and determinants across EU countries. This list, created using a mixed-methods research approach, will support the development of a cross-country monitoring framework and an interactive dashboard for better health policy decisions. This is a work in progress and will be updated as new data sources become available.
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Click here to download the document.
PRUDENT Work package 6 protocol: Priority Setting and Resource Allocation
We are excited to share the study protocol for PRUDENT WP6: "Deliberative multi-criteria processes for priority setting and resource allocation". Running from 2024 to 2027, this work package will focus on conducting and evaluating priority setting and resource allocation (PSRA) exercises in three diverse settings, working closely with stakeholders. The study aims to assess the cross-country implementability of these PSRA approaches and develop a best-practice manual for PSRA in oral health. Utilizing case studies and mixed methods evaluation, PRUDENT WP6 will provide valuable insights and guidance to improve resource allocation processes in healthcare systems.
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Click here to download the protocol.
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November 2024
How to ensure an appropriate oral health workforce? Modelling future scenarios for the Netherlands
In this study, part of the PRUDENT Project, we developed a dynamic model to project oral health workforce supply and requirement in the Netherlands, addressing the evolving needs in dental care from 2022 to 2050. We examined several possible future scenarios, including:
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Oral health morbidity trends: projections of dental needs if more people retain natural teeth over time.
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Skill-mix adjustments: exploring the impact of oral hygienists taking on preventive check-ups, freeing up dentists for complex care.
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Education modifications: scenarios of increased student intake and reduced training duration to assess their effects on workforce capacity.
Our model highlights the importance of a needs-based, adaptive approach to (oral health) workforce planning. Effective workforce strategies are essential for building resilient healthcare systems. With our insights, we aim to inspire policies that align with the broader goals of universal health coverage (UHC).​
Click here to access the article:
October 2024
PRUDENT at EADPH
Between the 2nd and 5th of October 2024, Stéphanie TUBERT-JEANNIN from the Clermont-Ferrand University in France, presented PRUDENT project's results at the European Association of Dental Public Health (EADPH) annual meeting. The oral presentation revealed results from a study that assessed the reform towards Universal (Oral) Health Coverage: The "100% santé" implemented in France in 2019.
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Click here to download the presentation.
July 2024
PRUDENT at EUHEA
At the European Health Economics Association (EuHEA) conference, Rie Fog-Nielsen from University of Southern Denmark, presented about "The Heterogeneous Effects of a Financial Crisis on the Demand for Oral Health Services." A Difference-in-Difference approach evaluated the impact of the Great Recession on dental care utilization across different income groups in Denmark. The results indicate that the Great Recession led to a significant decline in dental service utilization among low-income individuals, highlighting their lower financial resilience.
Please find the presentation slide deck below.
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June 2024
PRUDENT at EHMA
This June, our colleagues Béatrice Durvy and Lukas Schöner attended the EHMA - European Health Management Association Conference 2024 in Bucharest, where they presented crucial aspects of our research under the PRUDENT Project. In two presentations, they discussed how to conceptualize 'essential' in oral health as a basis for defining an essential oral healthcare benefits basket in EU countries and delved into the criteria and perspectives necessary for developing systematic and evidence-based prioritization mechanisms for an oral healthcare benefits basket.Their contributions have sparked meaningful discussions and highlighted important considerations for the future of oral health management across the EU.
Please find the presentation slide decks below.
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May 2024
JA NFP4Health (Joint action on increasing capacities of National Focal Points)
Chief Dental Officers meeting
April 2024
Consenting on essential oral health care benefit basket
We recently published our report on deliverable D2.1 of task T2.2 in WP2 - Consenting on essential oral health care benefit basket. Get an impression here of how we conducted more than 30 focus group discussions with oral health experts, economists and the general population from 8 different countries, and learn about our preliminary findings.
Ruth Waitzberg, Beatrice Durvy, Lukas Schöner et al. Consenting on essential oral health care benefit basket, 25 April 2024, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square [https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4312352/v1]
March 2024
Situation analysis and typology of oral health coverage and financing in Europe
Find our published working paper on deliverable D2.2 of task T2.3 in WP2 - Situation analysis and typology of oral health coverage and financing in Europe. In this work we perform a situation analysis by mapping the current coverage situation and funding mechanisms of OH care in European countries. The final work will result in a typology for OH financing and identify market failures, as a baseline for policy recommendations. Our methods and preliminary results can be found in our working paper.
Lukas Schöner, Ruth Waitzberg. Situation analysis and typology of oral health coverage and financing in Europe – Working paper, 31 March 2024, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square [https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4191991/v1]
PRUDENT at the International Association of Dental Research 102nd General Session 2024, New Orleans, 13th-16th March 2024
This presentation was part of a wider symposium about evidence-informed oral health policy making. The presentation outlined results of focus groups with citizens and dental/health economics experts across Europe about prioritising coverage for oral health in health systems. The findings showed that ‘essential’ OH health was perceived as multidimensionality and fluid with a myriad of criteria that can help define ‘essential’ OH services. Whilst there was a consensus on prioritizing preventive measures and emergency care, especially for children, no population and almost no services were deprioritized.
November 2023
Radboud UMC PhD retreat in Den Bosch
During the Radboudumc PhD retreat that took place on the 2nd and 3rd of November in Den Bosch, the Netherlands, Jip Janssen and Ziade Sarroukh had the opportunity to present their poster on an upcoming study they are preparing together with Stefan Listl, as part of the PRUDENT Project.
The team plans to evaluate the effects of introducing a new provider payment model which blends capitation, meaning that dental practices receive a fixed monthly tariff per patient, with SES-risk-adjusted bonus payments among children and adolescents aged <18 years in the Netherlands. The overall aim is to improve prevention in oral healthcare among children.
July 2023
PRUDENT Study Protocol
The PRUDENT study protocol was successfully published in JDR Clinical & Translational Research. The EU PRUDENT project aims to enhance the financing of oral health systems through novel evidence and implementation of better financing solutions together with citizens, patients, providers, and policy makers. The multicountry nature of the project offers unique windows of opportunity for rapid learning and improving within and across various contexts. PRUDENT is anticipated to strengthen capacities for better oral care financing in the EU and worldwide.
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Listl, Stefan & Ardenne, O & Grytten, J & Gyrd-Hansen, D & Lang, H & Melo, P & Nemeth, O & Tubert-Jeannin, S & Vassallo, P & Veen, E & Vernazza, Christopher & Waitzberg, Ruth & Winkelmann, Juliane & Woods, Noel. (2023). Prioritization, Incentives, and Resource Use for Sustainable Dentistry: The EU PRUDENT Project. JDR clinical and translational research. 9. 23800844231189485. 10.1177/23800844231189485.