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Mobile Apps for Dental Caries Prevention: Systematic Search and Quality Evaluation
Rebecca Chen1,2, Karla Santo2, Grace Wong3
1Sydney School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, Australia.
JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth
|January 13, 2021
Summary
Mobile apps can aid dental caries prevention, primarily focusing on oral hygiene for adults. However, many apps lack high quality and comprehensive features, necessitating further research for effective recommendations.
Area of Science:
- Oral Health Informatics
- Digital Health Interventions
- Public Health Technology
Background:
- Dental caries is a prevalent global oral disease affecting 60-90% of the population.
- Effective prevention strategies include oral hygiene, fluoride use, and dietary modifications.
- Mobile applications show potential for supporting dental caries management, but their characteristics are poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and analyze mobile applications designed for dental caries prevention.
- To describe the content, availability, target audience, and features of these apps.
- To assess the quality of dental caries prevention apps using a validated tool.
Main Methods:
- Systematic search and eligibility assessment of apps in app stores based on dental caries self-management behaviors.
- Data extraction on app characteristics, including store metrics, prevention domains, and features.
- Quality appraisal using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) and comparative analysis of findings.
Main Results:
- Out of 562 retrieved apps, 40 met eligibility criteria, with 55% targeting adults and 93% being free.
- Oral hygiene was the most frequently addressed behavior (93%), followed by dietary intake (45%) and fluoride usage (42%).
- The average MARS score was 2.9, with 45% rated as high quality; the Brush DJ app ranked highest.
Conclusions:
- Dental caries prevention apps predominantly focus on oral hygiene for adults but often lack high quality.
- While apps offer various features, their effectiveness in improving dental caries outcomes requires further investigation.
- Additional research is needed to validate app efficacy before widespread recommendation for dental caries prevention.
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