Effects of a Mobile App to Improve Oral Hygiene in Children

INTRODUCTION: Dental caries is one of the most common chronic diseases that affect oral health. Brushing the teeth regularly is considered the most effective method of preventing dental caries. Providing this motivation and ensuring this habit can be difficult, especially in children. Novel methods for gaining tooth brushing habits are attractive. This study aimed to investigate a mobile application's effectiveness in improving oral health in children.
METHODS: Two hundred children between 5-12 years old who applied to the Department of Pedodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of ……, for routine dental examination were included in the study after ethical approval. Children who have any systemic, physical, and/or mental disorders and have emergency dental complaints were not included in the study. A structured questionnaire including the child's oral hygiene habits was completed by the parents. In the clinical examination, caries indices (DMFT/dmft and DMFS/dmfs), dental plaque, and gingival index scores of the children were recorded. Following the clinical examination, the “Brush DJ” mobile application was introduced to the children and their parents. After the first examination, the children were referred for their dental treatment and all were recalled after three months. At the recall examination, a second questionnaire was completed by the parents. Dental caries index (DMFT/dmft and DMFS/dmfs) scores, dental plaque, and gingival index scores were recorded again. A parental satisfaction questionnaire was administered to the parents. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 25.0 software program. The compliance of the parameters with normal distribution was evaluated with the Shapiro-Wilk test. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparisons between the groups. For intra-group comparisons Wilcoxon test, chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and t-test were used. The results were evaluated at a 95% confidence interval and a statistical significance level of p<0.05.
RESULTS: It was determined that 56.5% (n=113) of the children participating in the study were girls and 43.5% (n=87) were boys. One hundred seventy-one of the 200 children were reported using the mobile application. It was observed that the tooth brushing frequency was increased in 97 children with the use of the mobile application. It was also observed that the tooth brushing duration was increased in 143 of 171 children with the use of the application. Initial plaque and gingival index scores (1.59±0.40; 1.18±0.40, respectively) were statistically higher than the recall examination scores (1.29±0.46; 1.09±0.49 respectively) (p<0.05). Based on the parental satisfaction survey data, it was observed that the use of the mobile app was effective in gaining tooth brushing habits, and brushing became regular and enjoyable in all children.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It has been concluded that using the "Brush DJ" mobile tooth brushing app is effective in gaining oral hygiene habits and making it a regular behavior in children. Long-term follow-up studies with a larger number of subjects comparing different oral hygiene education methods will be planned.