معرفی
Prof. Dr. med. dent. Stefan Zimmer is Chair for Conservative and Preventive Dentistry and Head of the Department of Conservative and Preventive Dentistry at the University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany. Since 2021 he also serves as Dean of the Faculty of Health. His clinical and research activities centre on the prevention of caries and non-carious hard-tissue lesions, evidence-based fluoride programmes, occupational dental prevention and public-health implementation.
Education & Academic Career
- 1988 – Dr. med. dent., Free University of Berlin
- 1994 – Specialist training (Fachzahnarzt)
- 2000 – Habilitation & Privatdozent, FU Berlin
- 2005 – Extraordinary Professor, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf
- 2008 – Full Professor & Chair, University of Witten/Herdecke
- 2021 – Dean, Faculty of Health, University of Witten/Herdecke
Research Interests
Prof. Zimmer’s work spans basic laboratory science, clinical intervention trials and public-health implementation research. Key themes include:
- Caries prevention through fluoride toothpastes, varnishes, salt and rinses
- Occupational dental prevention programmes in workplace settings
- Surface degradation and erosion from acidic beverages and bleaching agents
- Effectiveness of manual, sonic and powered oral-hygiene devices
- Development of evidence-based guidelines for vulnerable age groups (children, elderly, HIV patients)
Scientific Awards
- Gesundheitspreis NRW (2015)
- Ehrenzeichen des Bundesverbandes der Zahnärzte im Öffentlichen Gesundheitswesen in Silber (1998)
- Tholuck Medaille der Gesellschaft für Zahnhygiene (2013)
- Gesundheitspreis NRW – 2nd place (2008)
- Hufeland-Preis (2006)
Advising & Grants
Prof. Zimmer currently mentors numerous doctoral and master’s students in clinical and public-health dentistry. His projects receive funding from the German Research Foundation, Federal Ministry of Health, European regional programmes and industry partners. He leads the interdisciplinary Research Group on Occupational Dental Prevention and coordinates several multi-centre clinical trials on fluoride delivery systems.
Laboratories & Teams
He directs the Laboratory for Preventive Dentistry and Public Health and is scientific director of the University Centre for Dental Prevention, which houses pre-clinical simulation units, microbiological and materials-testing labs, and a clinical trial outpatient clinic.
