В Кюрасао уровень образования и доход напрямую влияют на регулярность посещения стоматологов

WILLEMSTAD – Education appears to play a significant role in how regularly people in Curaçao receive dental care, with highly educated residents visiting dentists substantially more frequently than people with lower levels of education. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics' Enkuesta Sosial 2025, 49.5 percent of respondents with higher education, including HBO and university-level education, had visited a dentist within the previous six months. Among respondents in the lowest educational category, the corresponding figure was only 26.9 percent. The difference of more than 22 percentage points is one of the clearest socioeconomic patterns identified in the healthcare survey. Residents with a secondary education also fell between the two groups. Among those with Havo, VWO or SBO education, 39.3 percent had visited a dentist within six months, while the percentage was 33.4 percent among residents with LBO or Mavo education. CBS concludes that the likelihood of having recently visited a dentist or orthodontist increases as educational attainment rises. Conversely, people with higher education are less likely to report that more than a year has passed since their last dental visit. The agency says this suggests that highly educated residents make more regular use of preventive oral healthcare. Income shows a similar pattern. Among respondents who described their household income as sufficient, 42.4 percent had visited a dentist within the previous six months, compared with 31.8 percent among those who considered their income insufficient. The findings are particularly relevant because dental care emerged elsewhere in the survey as the healthcare service most affected by affordability problems. CBS found that people struggling financially continue to face barriers to dental care despite existing arrangements intended to make treatment more affordable for lower-income residents. The results point to an inequality that goes beyond whether residents formally have access to healthcare: education and financial circumstances appear to influence how regularly Curaçao residents actually receive preventive dental treatment.