Frequently asked questions.

At Denta Staffing, recruitment and selection costs 12,5% to 17,5% of the gross annual income including holiday allowance, depending on the role group, with a minimum fee per role group starting at € 3.000. For interim and locum work we charge a margin of at most € 17,50 per hour on top of the contractor’s own rate, depending on duration, hours and role. It is either part of one all-in invoice through us, or comes as a separate invoice alongside the contractor’s own. For secondment the rate depends on the role and the hours; we work that out for you before you commit to anything. All amounts exclude VAT. No surprises afterwards: you know exactly where you stand beforehand.

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All about the cost of a recruitment agency

Yes. For those roles too, we visit first and approach people personally. The approach per role is on recruiting an orthodontic assistant, recruiting front desk staff and recruiting a practice manager. For assistants and the front desk, secondment is also an option: the person is then employed by us and works at your practice.

Yes. If the new hire leaves during the probation period, or you part ways in that period for reasons that lie with the candidate, we find a replacement for the same role once, free of charge. If there is no probation period, the first month after the start applies. The same goes if the candidate drops out before the start date.

See how we work

How the guarantee works

Honest answer: it depends on the role. The market moves faster for assistants than for dentists — and a dentist in a tight region takes time; anyone promising otherwise is selling you a fairy tale. What we always do: straight after the practice visit you get an honest assessment of where your request stands and what a realistic timeline looks like. If the candidate you want doesn’t exist in your region, you hear that up front — along with what is possible.

Call for an honest assessment of your vacancy

Now that the Dutch tax authority is again taking a stricter view of false self-employment, a self-employed professional who is a fixed part of your practice is not without risk. Whether it works in your situation depends on the circumstances — and that is exactly what we help with.

We assess case by case what is possible and what is sensible, and choose the right arrangement together — from locum work to an interim professional on an employment contract. That way you get the people you need, on a contract that holds up.

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Good question — patients are attached to their own clinician. Our advice: be open about it (“temporary cover, the same standard of care, your records are all there”) and say so before the appointment, not in the chair. If you work with us, we will help you think that communication through.

We never put forward anyone we haven’t spoken to ourselves. As standard: a personal conversation about motivation, skills and what someone does not want, a diploma and registration check where applicable (BIG registration), and references before an offer. And because we have seen your practice, we test more than the CV: we test whether someone fits your team and your pace.

How we work with practices

Yes — the Netherlands and Belgium are our patch. And because every recruitment assignment starts with a practice visit, that is meant literally: we come to you, from Groningen all the way to Belgium.

Arrange an introduction on site

Yes. Sometimes you don’t want your team — or the market — to know you are looking. In that case we recruit without naming the practice and only put candidates forward once you have agreed. Discretion works both ways with us, incidentally: we never offer candidates anywhere without their permission either.

Call Olivier — that conversation is confidential either way

Usually three. For each assignment we aim for a handful of candidates who are all worth interviewing — a real choice rather than a stack of CVs. And if the first one is a match straight away, you won’t hear us complain.

First a visit to your practice: what does the person need to be able to do, how does the day run, who will the new colleague be working alongside? After that we go into our network with purpose — no job-advert spam — and only put forward candidates who stand a real chance. You conduct the interviews; we guide the process until the contract is signed. And we stay in touch after that too.

With recruitment & selection the person joins your payroll — we take on the search and the selection and guide it through to the signature. With interim and locum work you hire a self-employed professional temporarily, often at short notice. With secondment the person joins our payroll and works in your practice — the route to take when self-employment isn’t an option.

Because we know what separates a prevention assistant from a periodontal prevention assistant, what a dental hygienist is allowed to do independently, and why one practice suits someone and another doesn’t. A generalist sends CVs matched on keywords; we speak to the people ourselves and know the market they work in.

We work exclusively, for three months. We don’t ask that to tie you down, but because we invest up front: we come to you, get to know your practice and approach people personally. That work only makes sense if we aren’t calling the same candidates as four other agencies, because then you become the practice that turns up everywhere at once, and that does your reputation no favours. If a candidate contacts you directly during that period, we take over the conversation and take that process off your hands.

Yes. Whether it is a single assistant or staffing a new treatment room: we take on several roles at once and agree an order up front — who do you need first, and what can wait. We work the same way for practice groups with several sites: one point of contact and terms that apply across all of them.

No. Never. We are paid by practices, not by you.

Browse the jobs or email your CV directly

No. We never share your name or CV without you saying yes to a specific practice first. So looking around is safe — even while you are employed somewhere and just want to know what is out there.

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Especially then. The best moves rarely come from panic applications. Tell us what a new place would have to beat, and we will only call when we have something that clears that bar — not for every job that happens to come along. No spam, no weekly “just checking in”.

One email is enough to be on our radar

Yes: Olivier. Denta Staffing is deliberately small — you always speak to the person who also sat down with the practice. No handover to an intermediary, no account manager in between.

Read who is behind Denta Staffing

You hear from us. Always — that is a commitment, not an intention. We get in touch personally for an introduction, and after every round you get a personal answer, even when it is a no. Silence after an application doesn’t exist here.

Email your CV or call directly

Yes. We do locum and interim work for dentists, orthodontists, dental hygienists and practice managers, and locum work for dental technicians too. For assistants and front desk staff we work with secondment: you are on our payroll and work in the practice. And if you would like to cover single days at practices in and around Amsterdam, you can do so through our relief pool. We work out together what is possible and permitted, so you can get started without hassle.

Call to hear what is available now

Dentists, including those specialising in implantology or endodontics, and orthodontists. Dental hygienists. Every assistant role: dental, prevention, periodontal prevention and orthodontic. And around them practice managers, dental technicians and front desk and reception staff — permanent, interim, secondment and locum work, throughout the Netherlands. Is your role not on the list but you work in dental care? Call us; we will work it out quickly.

Browse the jobs

Yes, if your BIG registration (the Dutch professional register for healthcare workers) is in order or in progress, also if you trained outside the EU. We don’t handle the recognition itself; how that route works is explained on our page about BIG registration.

Email your details

Never. Your CV only goes to a practice after we have discussed that practice together and you have agreed. You stay in control of where your name ends up.

You join the Denta Staffing payroll and work at a practice. So you have a normal employment contract: a fixed salary, holiday allowance and sick pay, without having to deal with invoices, insurance and the tax authority yourself. Exactly what your contract says, we go through before you sign.

You simply work in the practice, with their team, their schedule and their materials. The only difference is who employs you: that’s us. We handle the contract and the payroll, the practice directs the work. When an assignment ends, we look for the next one together — you don’t have to start searching again.

Then secondment is the middle road. The Dutch tax authority looks closely at self-employed people who are a fixed part of a rota, so many practices no longer dare to arrange it that way. With secondment you join our payroll and work at the practice: you keep the variety, the practice carries no risk, and neither do you.

Before the interview you already know who will be sitting across from you, how the practice runs, how they work and why we think it suits you. No surprises when you walk in.

We keep no more than we need in order to help you properly: your CV, your contact details and our interview notes. Everything is held securely in our recruitment system; without your consent nothing goes to a practice and we share it with no one. Would you rather not be on our books any more? Send one message and we will take care of it.

Yes, and in dental care that is the rule rather than the exception. Many practices are specifically looking for someone for two, three or four days, with fixed days in the rota. Tell us up front which days work for you — then we search on that, instead of asking you afterwards whether you could “maybe” do one more day.

Certainly. With people starting out we look above all at the support: which practice will take the time to get you going in your first year? That shapes how you stand in this profession for the rest of your career. And if a role is too demanding for someone just starting, we will say so — rather than putting you somewhere you have to work it out alone.

Roughly € 2.500 to € 3.300 gross per month for a full-time week, and up to about € 3.400 if you also take on preventive duties. There is no collective agreement: this is what practices offer in their job ads. For specific specialisms or more seniority, we also see higher salaries in the market. More about the work is on dental assistant jobs (in Dutch).

On a salary, roughly € 3.000 to € 4.500 gross per month for a full-time week; self-employed, € 50 to € 70 per hour. With self-employment, look at what comes with it: your own insurance, no sick pay and arranging your own pension. More is on dental hygienist jobs (in Dutch).

€ 4.000 to € 6.500 gross per month for a full-time week, or a revenue share of about 30 to 45 per cent of your own turnover, usually on a sliding scale based on daily turnover. A revenue share often pays more when the diary is full, but you carry the risk of empty chair time. More is on dentist jobs (in Dutch).

Most locum dentists work for 30 to 50 per cent of turnover, with around 40 per cent as the usual middle. Prefer an hourly rate? For an experienced locum, € 120 to € 150 per hour excluding VAT is usual, roughly € 960 to € 1.200 per clinical day. More in Hiring a locum: rates, agreements and pitfalls.

Often on paper, not always in practice. Out of your hourly rate you pay for your own disability insurance, pension, holiday, continuing education and the days the schedule is empty. The comparison is only honest once you deduct all of that — and how it works out differs per situation.

At the very least professional liability insurance and a complaints scheme under the Wkkgz. Disability insurance is not compulsory but it is the biggest financial risk you run. Legal expenses insurance is worth considering. All the details are on the insurance page.

From that date a statutory presumption of an employment contract applies, tied to the hourly rate. Work at a low rate and employment may be presumed sooner — whatever the heading on your contract. Exactly how it will work follows from the text of the act; get advice. The current state of all the legislation is on the topic page.

The work-experience requirement is currently 2.080 hours in five years — on average around eight hours a week. The hours count in salaried employment and as a self-employed professional alike; it concerns work within your profession’s field of expertise.

Then you can still achieve re-registration through a training route that ends with a recognised certificate. Anyone working less for a while — parenthood, illness, a sabbatical — does well to track the hours in good time and not wait for the register’s notice.

Count on many months to years. The route runs in a fixed order: qualification verification, language certificates (Dutch at B2+ and English at B2) and only then the professional competence test. With a qualification from the EU or EEA it is quicker: recognition and registration in a single procedure, usually within around three months — but even then only once the language requirement is met. More context is in this article.

Denta Staffing is the dental brand of Olivier Verwerda, who has been working in recruitment for eight years now — first agency-side, then client-side. Since 2026 that experience has been pointed at a single sector: dental care.

Yes. Many placements start with a conversation without an assignment — a practice owner thinking about expanding, or a clinician who just wants to know what is out there. That way we know what you are after, and we can call as soon as something suitable comes along.

If you call between patients and don’t reach us, leave a voicemail or a message — you will be called back the same day, after practice hours if that suits you better.

First a short conversation to hear what is going on. If you are a practice looking for someone permanent, we then come and visit first, before we approach anyone. For locum cover we tell you straight away whether your timeline is realistic. For a candidate we talk through what a new place would have to beat. Only after that do we start searching.

No. An introduction, our input and an honest assessment of your chances are free. What an assignment costs you as a practice is set out in black and white in the quote beforehand; as a candidate you never pay anything.

We work with a partner that is SNA-registered and NEN 4400-1 certified; the payroll for seconded staff runs through them. That means an independent body checks whether payroll taxes and VAT are paid correctly and whether everyone is legally allowed to work in the Netherlands. For you as a practice that means: the risk as a hirer is well covered.

Olivier Verwerda is the founder of Denta Staffing and the person you get on the phone. He has worked in recruitment for eight years — first agency-side, then client-side — and since 2026 has pointed that experience entirely at dental care. There is no account manager in between: whoever calls speaks to the person who does the work.

Yes, although the centre of gravity is in the Netherlands. We do business in Belgium too and certainly don’t rule it out — dental care there faces the same shortages and there is plenty of work. Are you a Flemish practice looking for staff, or a clinician wanting to look across the border? Put it to us. Do bear in mind that diploma recognition and employment terms are arranged differently there; we work that out case by case rather than pretending it works the same way.