Including dental care for adults in the basic health insurance package would cost the treasury €1.2bn, according to research by the government’s macro-economic policy unit CPB.

The total bill for adult dental care would be €1.9bn, but some €700m of this would be paid by patients themselves, the CPB said. The think-tank had been asked to look at the cost by health minister Edith Schippers.

Currently only dental care for the under 18s is included in the basic healthcare package and people can take out supplementary dental insurance if they feel it necessary.

Dutch dentists say hundreds of thousands of adults no longer go to the dentist because of the cost of insurance and treatment.