App-based oral health promotion interventions on modifiable risk factors associated with early childhood caries: A systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundEarly childhood caries (ECC) is a preventable chronic disease. Parents’ knowledge and attitudes toward oral healthcare have been associated with higher caries experience in their children. Mobile apps within the context of mHealth interventions are a potential tool for raising awareness and informing parents about their children's oral health.ObjectivesThe aim of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of mobile health apps, targeted at parents and caregivers, for the prevention of ECC.Data sourcesA systematic search was carried out in five scientific databases; Embase, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science.Study selection and data extractionOriginal studies, delivering oral health interventions to parents of children <6 years via smartphones, were included. Both quantitative and qualitative findings from the included studies were extracted.SynthesisA convergent segregated approach was used to integrate the quantitative and qualitative evidence, followed by side-by-side display and narrative synthesis.ResultsOut of 5,953 retrieved articles, five met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Three articles reported quantitative findings, while two reported both quantitative and qualitative findings. Four studies reported that a mobile app can be an effective tool to improve the oral health knowledge of parents/caregivers, aiding them in incorporating good oral health habits into their children's daily routines.ConclusionThis review demonstrated that oral health promotion programs delivered through mobile apps to parents could be effective in improving child oral health awareness among parents. There is a need for more high-quality studies with a large number of participants to find out which features of mHealth interventions with parents could effectively be employed to reduce the prevalence of ECC. Further studies and apps should be developed based on evidence-based behaviour change techniques and incorporate features such as gamification to increase the effectiveness and engagement of the target population.Systematic Review Registration[https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?], identifier [CRD42021268331].

“I Just Wanted a Dentist in My Phone”—Designing Evidence-Based mHealth Prototype to Improve Preschool Children’s Oral and Dental Health: Multimethod Study of the Codevelopment of an App for Children’s Teeth

“…The ACT app design and its content, created based on parents’ feedback and underpinned by the Health Belief Model, were felt by parents to have the potential to promote good oral health practices among children and parents. The positive findings of our project are consistent with the available evidence regarding the end user’s accessibility of using such technologies for oral health promotion [ 25 - 27 ]. Parents emphasized the importance of simplicity and user-friendliness of the app.…”

Time Efficiency, Reliability, and User Satisfaction of the Tooth Memo App for Recording Oral Health Information: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study

“…Therefore, we were unable to make any comparisons. Interestingly, there are many apps [12,13,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] for oral health promotion that aim to promote knowledge and behaviors related to oral health; there is also an artificial intelligence app that can detect dental caries [43]. Our app follows the standard format used by most apps such as banking or other utility apps.…”

Parent and demographic predictors of participant engagement in a parental mHealth intervention: results from the Let’s Grow trial (Preprint)

“…provide support and timely information to parents and can enable participation regardless of geographic location. This delivery mode has been shown to be well accepted among parents, and to be effective at promoting health behaviors in children [6][7][8].…”