Oral health in persons with disability in Germany—an overview of the literature

Abstract

The last systematic review regarding oral health of persons with disability in Germany was published in 2012. For that review, only three field studies on caries prevalence of children, adolescents, or adults with disability published between 2000 and 2012 were identified. The aim of the present overview is to present the results of new studies and the evolving consequences. In this regard, all studies and abstracts that had been published or accepted for publication between 1 January 2000 and 31 January 2021 were included. In this time interval, six regional studies and one supra-regional study were conducted in Germany in children and adolescents with disability. In addition, three regional studies and one supra-regional study were conducted in adults with disability. The studies had taken place in four of the 16 German federal states. Caries experience of the study participants was determined with the aid of a specific index. On average, children with disability and aged between 6 and 10 years had a higher caries experience than children without disability. In adolescents this difference is only true for those with intellectual disability. In adults with intellectual disability the higher caries experience yielded in a higher mean number of missing teeth compared to the general population. In conclusion, preventive and dental care for persons with disability still has to be intensified. This goal may be achieved by adding dental care for persons with disability to the national dental curriculum and by integrating this discipline in the education of dental students in all universities where dentistry is taught.