Caries prevalence in an adult population: results of the Study of Health in Pomerania, Germany (SHIP).
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess the caries prevalence in the adult population of Pomerania, Germany in comparison to national and international data.


METHODS
The study sample comprised 4,022 randomly selected subjects who were examined from October 1997 to May 2001 within the "Study of Health in Pomerania" (medical and dental, population-based cross-sectional study in Pomerania, Northeast Germany. Response rate: 69%. Age range of subjects: 25-79 yrs). Carious defects, fillings and missing teeth were diagnosed and the DMFT/S scores were calculated according to WHO guidelines (1997). These figures were compared to other German, Swedish and US data.


RESULTS
Women exhibited higher mean DMFT and DMFS values in all age groups than men. The mean DMFT/S scores were slightly higher than the values for the only two available nationally representative age groups in Germany. The prevalence of primary carious lesions or secondary caries was very low, resulting in minor treatment needs (decayed surfaces: mean 0.95 +/- 3.3) and high care indices (FS/DFS) for all age groups (90-95%). In contrast to this, the mean numbers of fillings in adults and especially of missing teeth in seniors were much higher in Pomerania for all age groups than in the Swedish and US adult population, where a caries decline was demonstrated.


CONCLUSIONS
In spite of a very low prevalence of primary carious lesions and secondary caries, the mean number DMFT/S and especially MT/S scores in the Pomeranian adult population are high in comparison with Swedish and US data, but differed only slightly from the limited available national data for Germany.
Splieth
Ch
Ch
Center of Oral Health, University of Greifswald, Germany. splieth@uni-greifswald.de
Schwahn
Ch
Ch
Bernhardt
O
O
Kocher
T
T
Born
G
G
John
U
U
Hensel
E
E
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology