ArticleClinical oral investigations2021
National oral health survey on refugees in Germany 2016/2017: caries and subsequent complications.
Article in Clinical oral investigations, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dental Caries among Refugees in Europe: A Systematic Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- A Multilingual Digital Microlearning Intervention for Oral Health in Refugee Shelters: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Trial
- Mapping the barriers and facilitators of oral healthcare access for vulnerable migrants across high-income countries: a scoping review.BDJ open · 2026Review
- The Oral Health Disparity Among Refugee Children: A Systematic Review.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2025Review
- Oral health, quality of life and general health of people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds from South Asia and the Middle East resettled in South Australia: a cross sectional survey.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Ethical Challenges in Oral Healthcare Services Provided by Non-Governmental Organizations for Refugees in Germany.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2024Article
- Time Efficiency, Reliability, and User Satisfaction of the Tooth Memo App for Recording Oral Health Information: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Utilisation of dental services by refugees in Germany: Results of the population-based RESPOND survey.Journal of health monitoring · 2024Article
- A Comparative Study of Oral Health and Behavior Among 7-9-Year-Old Iranian and Afghan Children : Oral Health and Behavior Among 7-9-Year-Old Iranian and Afghan Children.Galen medical journal · 2024Article
- Oral health, stress and barriers accessing dental health care among war-affected Ukrainian refugees in Germany.BMC oral health · 2023Article
- A scoping review linking early childhood caries to violence, neglect, internally displaced, migrant and refugee status.BMC oral health · 2023Article
- Higher prevalence of dental caries and periodontal problems among refugees: A scoping review.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- Association between psychosocial functioning, health status and healthcare access of asylum seekers and refugee children: a population-based cross-sectional study in a German federal state.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2021Article
- Oral health problems facing refugees in Europe: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo assess oral health, caries prevalence, and subsequent complications among recently arrived refugees in Germany and to compare these findings with the German resident population.
methodsThis multicenter cross-sectional study recruited 544 refugees aged 3-75+ years; they were examined at ten registration institutions in four federal states in Germany by two calibrated dentists. The refugees were screened for caries (dmft/DMFT) and its complications (pufa/PUFA); this data was compared to the resident population via the representative national oral health surveys).
resultsThe deciduous dentition of the 3-year-old refugees had a mean dmft value of 2.62 ± 3.6 compared with 0.48 dmft in the German resident population, and caries increased to 5.22 ± 3.4 for 6-7-year-olds (Germany: 1.73 dmft). Few refugee children had naturally healthy teeth (7% in 6-7-year-olds, Germany: 56%). In the permanent dentition, the gap in caries prevalence between refugees and the German population decreased with age (35-44-year-olds: 10.55 ± 7.1 DMFT; Germany: 11.2), but refugees exhibited more caries defects (35-44-year-olds DT = 3.13 ± 3.0; Germany: 0.5). German residents had more restorations (35-44-year-olds FT = 4.21 ± 4.6). Regarding complications, the 6-7-year-olds exhibited the highest pufa index (0.86 ± 1.4) which decreased in adolescence (13-17-year-olds, 0.18 ± 0.6) and increased in adults (45-64-year-olds, 0.45 ± 0.8).
conclusionThe refugees had high caries experience, often untreated caries teeth and more complications compared with the German resident population, especially in children. Closing this gap by extending preventive systems to the refugees would decrease future treatment needs. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: European countries should be prepared for the higher dental treatment needs in recent refugees, especially in children.
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