App-solutely fabulous! But are they effective for oral health promotion?

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of ‘apps’ in an oral health promotion initiative to improve knowledge, behaviour and task performance. Method: A case-control study involving 582 6/7-year-old children at two primary schools. The control school received conventional oral health promotion (i.e. talk and leaflet distribution). The test (case) school received conventional oral health promotion plus exposure to an oral health promotion ‘app’. Differences in knowledge, behaviour and task performance were investigated and compared between schools (pre- and post- intervention).

Result: The response rate to the study was 97.9% (570/582). There were significant changes in oral health knowledge (p<0.001), oral health behaviour (p<0.001) and in task performance (p<0.001) for both groups following the interventions. However, changes in knowledge, behaviour, and task performance between the test and control groups were not significantly different (p>0.05). Greater active participation was observed among the test group compared to the control group.

Conclusion: The use of ‘app’ in conjunction with conventional oral health promotion is effective in improving oral health knowledge, oral health behaviour and task performance. However, the adjunct use of ‘app’ does not appear to enhance the effectiveness of conventional oral health promotion methods. ‘Apps’ are great for active participation but may not be 'absolutely fabulous'.