Samietz, S.* ; Borof, K.* ; Hertrampf, K.* ; Aarabi, G.* ; Ciardo, A.* ; Finke, H.* ; Hagenfeld, D.* ; Kühnisch, J.* ; Rütters, M.* ; Baumeister, S.E.* ; Reckelkamm, S.L.* ; Kim, T.S.* ; Kocher, T.* ; Ahrens, W.* ; Brenner, H.* ; Emmel, C.* ; Fischer, B.* ; Führer, A.* ; Greiser, K.H.* ; Grischke, J.* ; Günther, K.* ; Harth, V.* ; Jaskulski, S.* ; Karch, A.* ; Keil, T.* ; Kemmling, Y.* ; Kluttig, A.* ; Krist, L.* ; Kuss, O.* ; Leitzmann, M.* ; Meinke-Franze, C.* ; Michels, K.B.* ; Obi, N.* ; Peters, A. ; Pischon, N.* ; Pischon, T.* ; Schipf, S.* ; Schmidt, B.* ; Teismann, H.* ; Rupf, S.* ; Holtfreter, B.*
     
 
    
        
Dental and oral health assessments in the German National Cohort (NAKO).
    
    
        
    
    
        
        BMC Oral Health 25:149 (2025)
    
    
    
		
		
			
				BACKGROUND: Despite considerable improvements in oral health in recent decades, caries and periodontitis are still widespread, ranking among the most prevalent diseases worldwide and requiring future research. The German National Cohort (NAKO Gesundheitsstudie, NAKO) is a large-scaled, multidisciplinary, nationwide, multi-centre, population-based, prospective cohort study with oral examinations that aims to provide a resource to study risk factors for major diseases. The aim of the present article is to provide the methodological background, to report on the data quality, and to present initial results of the oral examinations. METHODS: During baseline examinations (2014-2019), a total of 205,184 persons aged 19-74 years has been examined in 18 study centres, including, among others, a dental interview, stimulated saliva sampling, and recording of the numbers of present teeth and prostheses (standard Level 1 program). As part of the Level 2 program that was offered to 20% randomly selected participants, each study centre selected one of three modules, one of them being the Level 2 oral examination. This extended program was carried out in a subgroup of 20,828 participants, including collection of detailed information on the dental and prosthetic status as well as on periodontal, cariological and functional aspects. To ensure reliability and reproducibility, study nurses were trained and calibrated by dental experts. In addition, a reliability study was conducted among 794 Level 1 and 359 Level 2 participants, reporting intra class correlation and kappa coefficients. RESULTS: Intra class correlation and kappa coefficients for observer agreement and reliability were consistently above 0.7, indicating good to excellent reliability of all dental measurements. For example, intra class correlation was 0.937 for the number of present teeth (Level 1), 0.740 for mean probing depth (PD) and 0.797 for active mouth opening. An initial inspection of the data showed that the median number of present teeth was 27, of which on average 6.9 teeth were healthy and caries-free. Average mean PD was 1.92 mm. An orthodontic treatment was reported by 35.5% of participants. DISCUSSION: Overall, the dental study protocol was feasible and successfully integrated into the NAKO's overall assessment program. However, rigorous support of the study centres by dental professionals was required to ensure high quality data. In summary, high-quality data collection within the NAKO pave the way for future investigation of potential risk factors for oral diseases and links between oral and systemic diseases and conditions.
			
			
				
			
		 
		
			
				
					
					Impact Factor
					Scopus SNIP
					Web of Science
Times Cited
					Scopus
Cited By
					
					Altmetric
					
				 
				
			 
		 
		
     
    
        Publikationstyp
        Artikel: Journalartikel
    
 
    
        Dokumenttyp
        Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
    
 
    
        Typ der Hochschulschrift
        
    
 
    
        Herausgeber
        
    
    
        Schlagwörter
        Caries ; Cohort Study ; Cross-sectional ; Dental Status ; Epidemiology ; Oral Health ; Periodontitis ; Temporomandibular Disorders; Partial Recording Protocols; Periodontal-diseases; Quality Development; Consensus Report; Mixed Dentition; Global Burden; Prevalence; Caries; Trends; Life
    
 
    
        Keywords plus
        
    
 
    
    
        Sprache
        englisch
    
 
    
        Veröffentlichungsjahr
        2025
    
 
    
        Prepublished im Jahr 
        0
    
 
    
        HGF-Berichtsjahr
        2025
    
 
    
    
        ISSN (print) / ISBN
        1472-6831
    
 
    
        e-ISSN
        
    
 
    
        ISBN
        
    
 
    
        Bandtitel
        
    
 
    
        Konferenztitel
        
    
 
	
        Konferzenzdatum
        
    
     
	
        Konferenzort
        
    
 
	
        Konferenzband
        
    
 
     
		
    
        Quellenangaben
        
	    Band: 25,  
	    Heft: 1,  
	    Seiten: ,  
	    Artikelnummer: 149 
	    Supplement: ,  
	
    
 
  
        
            Reihe
            
        
 
        
            Verlag
            BioMed Central
        
 
        
            Verlagsort
            London
        
 
	
        
            Tag d. mündl. Prüfung
            0000-00-00
        
 
        
            Betreuer
            
        
 
        
            Gutachter
            
        
 
        
            Prüfer
            
        
 
        
            Topic
            
        
 
	
        
            Hochschule
            
        
 
        
            Hochschulort
            
        
 
        
            Fakultät
            
        
 
    
        
            Veröffentlichungsdatum
            0000-00-00
        
 
         
        
            Anmeldedatum
            0000-00-00
        
 
        
            Anmelder/Inhaber
            
        
 
        
            weitere Inhaber
            
        
 
        
            Anmeldeland
            
        
 
        
            Priorität
            
        
 
    
        Begutachtungsstatus
        Peer reviewed
    
 
    
        Institut(e)
        Institute of Epidemiology (EPI)
    
 
    
        POF Topic(s)
        30202 - Environmental Health
    
 
    
        Forschungsfeld(er)
        Genetics and Epidemiology
    
 
    
        PSP-Element(e)
        G-504000-010
G-504000-007
    
 
    
        Förderungen
        Universitt des Saarlandes (1036)
    
 
    
        Copyright
        
    
 	
    
    
    
    
    
        Erfassungsdatum
        2025-03-26