*2.2. Dependent Variables*

In concordance to other large cohort studies (e.g., Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe) individuals were first asked whether they had postponed a dental visit since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic (1 "Yes", 2 "No, attended as planned", 3 "No examination pending", 4 "No, other reasons"). The outcome measure was dichotomized (0 = no, not postponed; 1= yes, postponed). Additionally, individuals were asked about the type of postponed dental visit (1 = "check-up/regular dental examination", 2 = "pain/dental complaints", and 3 = "planned therapy").

A pretest with *n* = 14 individuals confirmed high face validity of our outcome measures.

#### *2.3. Independent Variables*

Various determinants were included in our study: sex, age group (distinguishing between: 18 to 29 years; 30 to 49 years; 50 to 64 years; 65 years and above), relationship/marriage (no; yes), presence of children under 18 years (no; yes), living arrangement (two or more individuals in the same household; living alone), migration background (no; yes), status of self-employment (no; yes), educational level (up to 9 years/10 years and more (without general qualification for university entrance); 10 years and more (with general qualification for university entrance)), region (East Germany; West Germany), town size (municipality/small town (1–20,000); medium sized town (20,001–100,000); small city (100,001–500,000); big city (>500,000)), COVID-19 cases/100,000 population (below median; above median), and chronic diseases (no; yes).

With regard to COVID-19, individuals were asked to rate how they were affected (consisting of seven items, seven-point scale). For instance, items were: "For me, the new type of corona virus is" ... "near" (1) to "far away" (7) or "inflated in media" (1) to "not given enough attention in media" (7) or "Something I keep thinking about" (1) to "Something I almost never think about" (7).

The total score was built by averaging items. In our study, Cronbach's alpha was 0.78. Moreover, participants were asked to rate the severity of COVID-19 disease ("How do you assess an infection with the novel corona virus for yourself?", from 1 = completely harmless to 7 = extremely dangerous).
