Objective: Against the background of demographic trends and modified diagnostic criteria it is the aim of the Fifth German Oral Health Study (DMSV) to update epidemiologic, sociodemographic and behavioral variables as well as health service research-based data comparable to data of previous DMS.
Method: Methodologically DMSV is a population-representative cross section study of four age cohorts selected on the basis of relevant WHO criteria and customary principles of good epidemiological practice. The cohorts are: 12-year-olds (children), 35-44 year-olds (adults), 65-74-year-olds (seniors), and 75-year-olds and older (elderly with focus on need of long term care). All random samples are taken systematically from registers of residence in a total of 90 communities, intending a net sample size of 1,000 participants per age cohort. The study is split into a clinical dental examination and a sociological survey. Clinical dental variables are: caries, dental prostheses, diseases of the oral mucosa, erosions, and periodontal diseases. Sociological variables are: oral health behavior, salutogenesis and sense of coherence, and sociodemography. Four project teams are appointed, each comprising a calibrated dentist, an interviewer and a field manager. Statistical analyses are applied weighted, descriptively and analytically, in particular to develop risk factor and protective factor models for oral health and diseases.
Result: The publication of the main findings of the study is scheduled for autumn 2016.
Conclusion: DMSV will update representative data on oral health in Germany. First, the findings will contribute a bechmark with national and global goals for oral health in 2020. Second, they present a scientific basis for implementing strategies of a prevention based agenda of national oral health services.