Opportunities for oral health monitoring technologies beyond the dental clinic

Abstract

Personal health and wellness technologies can improve people’s care at home, connect everyday activities to clinical settings, and allow more efficient use of clinical resources. Recently, the Human-Computer Interaction community has begun to develop tools to improve oral care. In this research, we investigate dental practices and information needs through surveys and interviews with a range of patients and oral health providers. We find that personal users want to track their progress—or lack thereof—between dental visits for feedback, so they can adjust their home care routines, or so they can seek an escalation in care if they identify a problem. Among providers and clinical health workers, there exists an opportunity for better screening and diagnostic tools to identify dental caries at early stages. Providers in rural areas desire better tools to communicate problem areas to patients and their caregivers to bridge oral health care disparities in areas with limited access to care. Our results can guide the development of dental technologies that can address currently unmet needs of patients and providers.