TY  - JOUR
SN  - 1936-7163 (Electronic) 0033-6572 (Linking)
AU  - Deinzer, Renate
AU  - Jordan, A. Rainer
AU  - Kuhr, Kathrin
AU  - Margraf-Stiksrud, Jutta
T1  - Oral hygiene behaviour and toothbrushing skills: results of the 6th German Oral Health Study (DMS • 6)
JF  - Quintessence International
SP  - S82-S87
VL  - 56 (Suppl.)
PY  - 2025
KW  - Awareness
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Dental care
KW  - Dental examinations
KW  - Dental health education
KW  - Dentists
KW  - DMS • 6
KW  - DMS 6
KW  - Gesundheitsverhalten
KW  - Health Behavior
KW  - Health behaviour
KW  - Mundgesundheitserziehung
KW  - Mundgesundheits-Studie
KW  - Mundgesundheitsstudien
KW  - Mundhygiene
KW  - Oral health awareness
KW  - Oral Hygiene
KW  - Projekt DMS 6
KW  - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW  - Toothbrushing
KW  - Umfragen und Fragebögen
KW  - Zähneputzen
UR  - https://www.quintessence-publishing.com/deu/de/article/5982011/quintessence-international/2025/supplement/oral-hygiene-behavior-and-toothbrushing-skills-results-of-the-6th-german-oral-health-study-dms-6
L1  - \\kzbv-citavi\attachmentsidz$\attachments\IDZ\Deinzer, Jordan et al 2025 - Oral hygiene behaviour and toothbrushing.pdf
JA  - Quintessence Int
AB  - Objectives: Past German Oral Health Studies (DMS) have revealed that toothbrushing patterns – a behavioral index comprising toothbrushing frequency, duration and timing – have steadily improved over the previous decades. What has not yet been investigated, however, are toothbrushing skills, ie, the ability to achieve oral cleanliness by removing all plaque deposits.

Method and materials: All participants of the DMS • 6 from the age groups of 12-year-olds, 35- to 44-year-olds, and 65- to 74-year-olds were asked to brush their teeth to the best of their ability. To do so, they used their own devices or those provided. The plaque that remained after brushing was recorded using the modified Marginal Plaque Index (mMPI), expressing the percentage of segments remaining at the gingival margin that were colonized by plaque. Relationships to questionnaire data regarding demographics (age, gender, education status), toothbrushing behavior (frequency, utilization of an electric toothbrush), and selected dental treatments (professional tooth cleaning, lifetime periodontal treatment) were assessed.

Results: Even following the best possible brushing, roughly half of the segments (44% to 52%) across all age groups showed persisting plaque deposits. Survey data revealed the most pronounced group differences regarding education, whereby even in the group of younger seniors with a high education status, 37% of the areas showed persisting plaque after cleaning.

Conclusion: The data demonstrate that there are population-wide deficits in the ability to achieve oral cleanliness. Future prevention efforts should also focus on improving the population’s toothbrushing skills.
DO  - 10.3290/j.qi.b5982011
M4  - Citavi
ER  -