EFFICIENCY OF USING MOBILE APPLICATIONS AS A WAY TO IMPROVE HYGIENE SKILLS IN CHILDREN

Abstract

During the rapid gadgetization of children, including pre-school age, the motivational step is to attract mobile ap-plications to improve the multiplicity and quality of hy-giene skills. On the market there are multi-age, multifunc-tional mobile applications, such as: Dental Care APP, Oral-B APP, CavityFree 3D, Sonicare for kids. They not only have an educational function, but also provide guid-ance in entering the necessary data.
The aim of the study. Assess the level of oral hygiene of children and improve it through the use of specialized mobile applications.
Materials and methods of research. We reviewed various mobile applications for Android and IOS operating sys-tems, with the function of training dental sanitary litera-cy, and selected the most effective. To determine the effec-tiveness of the use of mobile applications to improve oral hygiene, we determined the level of hygiene according to the Green Vermilion index and Podshadley, Haley index at the first visit, after 1, 3 and 6 months in 73 children aged 6 years living in Bukovina.
We formed 2 groups: the main group – children who used mobile applications while brushing their teeth, and the comparative group – children who did not use mobile ap-plications while brushing their teeth. Children of both groups were given recommendations on the choice of means and subjects of hygiene, hygiene training was con-ducted.
Results. The results of the survey indicate that children do not pay enough attention to oral hygiene: only half of the respondents brush their teeth twice a day, and in the morning - every fifth child of both groups. Almost every third child takes care of the oral cavity before going to bed.
Analysis of oral hygiene at the time of the examination showed a low level of oral hygiene. According to our Green Vermilion index data, satisfactory oral hygiene was found in children of the main and comparative groups. The average value of the hygienic index in chil-dren of the main subgroup after a month of using mobile applications during brushing was (0.54±0.03) points, which is 56.80 % lower than the comparison group (p1˂0.05). The results obtained indicate good oral hy-giene and are maintained at the same level and in the long term. In the dynamics of observation after 1 month according to the Podshadley, Haley index, the state of oral hygiene in children of the main group was good and amounted to 0.47±0.03 points. A probable difference compared to the initial condition and a good level of hy-giene were also observed in the long term.
Conclusions. The introduction of motivating factors in the practice of daily brushing in children, such as mobile applications with the function of sanitary dental training, makes it possible to significantly improve oral hygiene, which is confirmed by probably lower indicators of the hygienic index in the long run.