{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,11]],"date-time":"2026-05-11T10:07:13Z","timestamp":1778494033170,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,29]],"date-time":"2022-09-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1664409600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Department of Special Care Dentistry at Witten\/Herdecke University"},{"name":"German Konrad-Morgenroth-F\u00f6rderergesellschaft e.V (KMFG)"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Due to a dearth of information on preventive and supportive oral care for people with Down Syndrome (PDS) in Germany, caregivers of PDS were surveyed on the topic. Methods: An anonymized questionnaire was sent to the 610 members of the German Down Syndrome Association. The study was approved by the ethics committee of Witten\/Herdecke University (# 165\/2017). Results: The parents\/caregivers of 207 PDS responded. These PDS were between 1 and 55 years old (mean age 24.4 years) and included 111 males and 96 females. At their first dental appointment, 40.7% (n = 82) had been younger than three years. Although 78.3% (n = 162) tooth brushed twice daily, only 30.9% (n = 64) brushed for 2\u20133 min; 84.0% (n = 135) did not use other dental hygiene products apart from toothbrushes. Age-specific differences were found: Although only 30.8% (n = 12) of PDS &lt; 18 years (n = 39) independently performed dental self-care; this was 67.3% (n = 113) for PDS \u2265 18 years (n = 168). A statistically significant (p &lt; 0.001; Chi-Square-Test) difference in toothbrush preferences emerged: While PDS &lt; 18 years mainly used manual toothbrushes, PDS \u2265 18 years preferred electric toothbrushes. In contrast to 72.6% of PDS \u2265 18 years, only 51.3% of PDS &lt; 18 years accepted most types of toothpaste. Conclusions: Age-dependent differences in tooth brushing behaviour became evident within the group of PDS in Germany. Hence, better age-specific, inter-professional dental prophylaxis concepts need to be developed and offered for all age groups of PDS. These concepts should include personalized check-up intervals and hands-on instruction in dental hygiene procedures by dental practitioners.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph191912435","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,29]],"date-time":"2022-09-29T21:03:10Z","timestamp":1664485390000},"page":"12435","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Oral Health Care of People with Down Syndrome in Germany"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5700-3144","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter","family":"Schmidt","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Special Care Dentistry, Witten\/Herdecke University, 58455 Witten, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Child Neurology, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke, 58313 Herdecke, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Witten\/Herdecke University, 58455 Witten, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laura C.","family":"Suchy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Special Care Dentistry, Witten\/Herdecke University, 58455 Witten, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8326-2326","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreas G.","family":"Schulte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Special Care Dentistry, Witten\/Herdecke University, 58455 Witten, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"259","article-title":"Observations on an Ethnic Classification of Idiots","volume":"3","author":"Down","year":"1866","journal-title":"Lond. 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