Denmark's Oral Biobank (DOBi)

Denmark’s Oral Biobank (DOBi) is a new entity and an addition to the existing infrastructure of the Danish National Biobank. It integrates oral health and disease research with general health at three levels: i) cellular, ii) patient, and iii) societal.

DOBi aims to provide new insights into preventing and reducing health inequalities among at-risk individuals. It will explore screening and monitoring capabilities using salivary and blood biomarkers, with the potential to reduce both oral and general health costs at the patient and societal levels.

The Department of Odontology attracts more individuals in vulnerable situations than other dental care institutions. These individuals experience disproportionate inequalities in both oral and general health but are underrepresented in health science research. DOBi unites oral and general healthcare research, promoting better quality of life and health equality for people with oral and cardiometabolic diseases, their relatives, and individuals at risk.

DOBi will collect the first comprehensive repository of high-quality oral and general health data, including imaging, questionnaires, saliva, and blood samples from 3,400 individuals. Participants will be recruited from the dental care attendees at the Department of Odontology, University of Copenhagen.

The strategic collaboration between DOBi, the Danish National Biobank, and the Danish Biobank Register ensures the necessary expertise to supplement in-house experience in sample and data collection and management, which is crucial for advancing research in oral and general health. All biological samples will be stored in a research biobank at the Statens Serum Institute. An overview of included participants will be available on the National Biobank homepage (www.biobanks.dk).

Collaborating with the data repository of the Danish Biobank Registers enables Danish healthcare research to take a pioneering role internationally.