Department of Public Oral Health, Program of Oral Health Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
Department of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Care Sciences, Takarazuka University of Medical and Health Care, Takarazuka City, Hyogo, Japan.
Clin Exp Dent Res. 2023 Dec;9(6):1206-1213. doi: 10.1002/cre2.797. Epub 2023 Oct 23.
For people, it is challenging to be conscious of the appropriate toothbrushing time to maintain good oral health in daily life. The aim of this study was to preliminarily examine the utility of an application (app) that combines a toothbrushing timer and information on toothbrushes.
We developed the "Toothbrushing Timer with Information on Toothbrushes" app to help users ensure appropriate toothbrushing time and learn about the beneficial characteristics of toothbrushes. A total of 18 participants were registered for the study. At baseline (T0) and after 1 month (T1) of app usage, study participants answered a digital questionnaire that comprised three questions on oral health practice, self-efficacy in oral hygiene, and quality of life related to oral health (Oral Health Impact Profile-14 [OHIP-14]).
Five participants were excluded from the analysis as they did not answer the digital questionnaire. Finally, 13 participants completed the survey with a follow-up of 1 month. The 13 participants were grouped into health professionals (n = 8) and non-health professionals (n = 5). The total scores for oral health practice and self-efficacy related to oral hygiene increased after a month of app usage in health professional and non-health professional groups. However, there were no significant differences between T0 and T1 in either group. The total score of OHIP-14 was lower at T1 than at T0 in both groups. Therefore, participants showed better oral health practice, self-efficacy in oral hygiene, and quality of life related to oral health at T1 compared with that at T0.
Our app showed positive results for the users and is useful in maintaining and promoting oral health awareness and practice. However, our pilot study lacks sufficient power and did not yield significant differences. Therefore, high-quality clinical trials with larger sample sizes are warranted for further improvement and evaluation.
对于人们来说，在日常生活中保持良好的口腔健康，意识到合适的刷牙时间是具有挑战性的。本研究的目的是初步检验一款集刷牙定时器和牙刷信息于一体的应用程序(app)的实用性。
我们开发了“带牙刷信息的刷牙定时器”应用程序(app)，以帮助用户确保合适的刷牙时间并了解牙刷的有益特性。共有 18 名参与者注册参加了这项研究。在使用 app 前（T0）和使用 1 个月后（T1），研究参与者回答了一个包含三个关于口腔健康实践、口腔卫生自我效能和口腔健康相关生活质量（口腔健康影响量表-14 [OHIP-14]）的数字问卷。
有 5 名参与者因未回答数字问卷而被排除在分析之外。最终，有 13 名参与者完成了调查，随访时间为 1 个月。这 13 名参与者被分为卫生专业人员（n=8）和非卫生专业人员（n=5）。在卫生专业人员和非卫生专业人员组中，使用 app 1 个月后，口腔健康实践和口腔卫生自我效能的总分均有所增加。然而，两组在 T0 和 T1 之间均无显著差异。在两组中，OHIP-14 的总分在 T1 时均低于 T0。因此，与 T0 相比，T1 时两组参与者的口腔健康实践、口腔卫生自我效能和口腔健康相关生活质量均有所改善。
我们的 app 对使用者显示出积极的结果，并且在保持和促进口腔健康意识和实践方面是有用的。然而，我们的初步研究缺乏足够的效力，没有产生显著差异。因此，需要进行高质量的临床试验，以进一步改进和评估。
