Mobile Health Assessment of Traumatic Dental Injuries Using Smartphone-Acquired Photographs: A Multicenter Diagnostic...

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Digital Health
• Public Health

Background:

• Mobile health (mHealth) offers emerging potential for remote assessment of traumatic dental injuries (TDI).
• Emergency care support through remote TDI assessment is a growing area of interest.
• Smartphone-acquired photographs are being explored for diagnostic capabilities in dentistry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the diagnostic accuracy of detecting traumatic dental injuries (TDI) using smartphone-acquired photographs.
• To evaluate the performance of mHealth in remote TDI assessment.
• To compare diagnostic consistency across different dental professionals and dentition types.

Main Methods:

• 153 individuals aged ≥ 6 years had their anterior teeth photographed using a smartphone app.
• Photos from 148 eligible participants were independently reviewed by a dental specialist, two general dentists, and two dental therapists.
• Diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and inter-rater reliability were calculated against a specialist's reference standard.

Main Results:

• One-third of 1,870 screened teeth exhibited TDI; one-seventh of participants had primary/mixed dentitions.
• Diagnostic sensitivity for TDI ranged from 59-95% and specificity from 47-93%.
• Better performance was observed for urgent TDI types (sensitivity 78-89%, specificity 99-100%) and primary/mixed dentitions.

Conclusions:

• Smartphone-based mHealth is a valid practice for remote TDI assessment.
• The method shows improved diagnostic performance for urgent TDIs and primary/mixed dentitions.
• Future research should focus on professional training, AI integration, and multi-center trials.