Full Text (PDF)
Review Article

Impact of Social Media in Educating and Improving the Oral Health Status in Children

Ms. Ayesha, Krishna Priya Vellore, Mayuri Ganesh, Saigeeta K, Niharika Sowki

Author Information

Licence:

Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.


Indian Journal of Dental Education 17(4):p 171-182, Oct-Dec 2024. | DOI: https://doi.org/10.21088/ijde.0974.6099.17424.2

How Cite This Article:

Ayesha, Mayuri Ganesh, Saigeeta K, et al. Impact of Social Media in Educating and Improving the Oral Health Status in Children. Ind J Dent Educ. 2024;17(4):171-182.

Timeline

Received : October 18, 2024         Accepted : December 02, 2024          Published : December 10, 2024

Abstract

Social media platforms are increasingly utilized in pediatric care to promote oral health education, assist in remote monitoring, and influence patient behavior. These tools play a crucial role in providing dental care in regions with limited access to pediatric dental specialists. Additionally, social media supports monitoring between appointments and offers remote diagnosis and guidance for children’s oral health. This approach became particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, where virtual consultations via mobile devices and webcams helped ensure safety by minimizing in-person contact. Teledentistry serves as an effective supplement to traditional dental care, improving patient management and bridging the gap in pediatric dental services in underserved areas. However, further research is necessary to ensure its safe and evidence-based application in pediatric dentistry.


References

  • 1.   United Nations Population Fund. The Power of Adolescents, Youth and the Transformation of the Future. United States: Prographics Inc; 2014.
  • 2.   WHO. Adolescent health [Internet]. Updated 2017 Oct 17 [cited 2017 Aug 27]. Available from: URL: http://www.who.int/topics/adolescent_health/ en/.
  • 3.   Poul Erik Petersen, Denis Bourgeois, Hiroshi Ogawa, Saskia Estupinan-Day, Charlotte Ndiaye. The global burden of oral diseases and risks to oral health. Bull. World Health Organ 2005; 83:661-669.
  • 4.   The Oral Health Atlas. The Challenge of Oral Disease – A call for global action. 2nd ed. Geneva: FDI World Dental Federation; 2015.
  • 5.   Albander JM, Brown LJ, Löe H. Clinical features of early-onset periodontitis. J Am Dent Assoc 1997; 128:1393-1399.
  • 6.   World Health Organization. The World Oral Health Report 2003. Continuous improvement of oral health in the 21st century – the approach of the WHO Global Oral Health Programme. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003.
  • 7.   Ruth Freeman. Communicating effectively: some practical suggestions. Br. Dent. J 1999; 187(5):240- 244.
  • 8.   Free C, Phillips G, Galli L, Watson L, Felix L, et al. The Effectiveness of Mobile-Health TechnologyBased Health Behaviour Change or Disease Management Interventions for Health Care Consumers: A Systematic Review. PLoS Med 2013; 10(1):e1001362.
  • 9.   TECH2 News and Analysis: Number of smartphone users crosses 300 million in India as shipments grew 18 percent [Internet] [cited 2017 Jan 25]. Available from: URL: http://tech.firstpost. com/news-analysis/number-of smartphoneusers-crosses-300-million-in-india-as-shipmentsgrew-18- percent-359075.html.
  • 10.   Free C, Whittaker R, Knight R, Abramsky T, Rodgers A, et al. Txt2stop: a pilot randomised controlled trial of mobile phone-based smoking cessation support. Tob Control 2009; 18:88–91.
  • 11.   Rodgers A, Corbett T, Bramley D, Riddell T, Wills M, et al. Do u smoke after txt? Results of a randomised trial of smoking cessation using mobile phone text messaging. Tob Control 2005; 14:255–261.
  • 12.   Norwell N. Text messaging raises medicolegal issues. BMJ 2003; 326:1148.
  • 13.   Novak L, Svensson M. MMS-Building on the success of SMS. Ericsson Review 2001;3:102–9.
  • 14.   Wolf MS, Wilson EA, Rapp DN, Waite KR, Bocchini MV, et al. Literacy and learning in health care. Pediatrics. 2009; 124 Suppl 3:S275–S281.
  • 15.   ReferralMD. 30 Amazing Mobile Health Technology Statistics for Today’s Physician [Internet]. 2015; [cited 2017 Sep 13]. Available from: URL: https:// getreferralmd.com/2015/08/mobile-healthcaretechnology-statistics/.
  • 16.   The Hindu. WhatsApp user base crosses 70 million in India [Internet]. Updated 2016 Apr 09 [cited 2017 Sep 13]. Available from: URL: http://www. thehindu.com/sci-tech/techonlogy/gadgets/ whatsapp-user-base-in India/article6557742.ece.
  • 17.   Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). 11th Annual Report 2014- 15 [Internet]. [cited 2017 Oct 06]. Available from: URL: http://www. iamai.in/sites/default/files/annual_report/ AnnualReport2014- 15.pdf.
  • 18.   The Indian Express. Mary Meeker Internet trends 2017 report: The top highlights for India [Internet]. [cited 2017 Jun 01]. Available from: URL: http:// indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-newstechnology/mary meeker-internet-trends-2017- report-india-top-highlights-points-to-notemobilegrowth-4683709/.
  • 19.   Manjunatha S. The Usage of Social Networking sites Among the College Students in India. Int Res J Social Sci 2013; 2(5):15-21.
  • 20.   Statista- The Statistical Portal. Number of monthly active WhatsApp users in India from August 2013 to February 2017 (in millions) [Internet] [cited 2017 Oct 07]. Available from: URL: https://www. statista.com/statistics/280914/monthly-activewhatsapp-users-in India/.
  • 21.   Alqarni A.A., Alfaifi H.M., Aseeri N.A., Gadah T., Togoo R.A. Efficacy of a self-designed mobile application to improve child dental health knowledge among parents. J Int Soc Prev Community Dent. 2018; 8:424–430. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar].
  • 22.   Shetty V., Yamamoto J., Yale K. Re-architecting oral healthcare for the 21st century. J Dent. 2018; 74(Suppl1):S10–S14. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar].
  • 23.   Gadbury-Amyot C.C. Technology is a critical game changer to the practice of dental hygiene. J Evid Base Dent Pract. 2014; 14:240–245. [PubMed] [Google Scholar].
  • 24.   Campos L.F., Cavalcante J.P., Machado D.P., Marçal E., Silva P.G.B., Rolim J.P. Development and evaluation of a mobile oral health application for preschoolers. Telemed J e-Health. 2019; 25:492–498. [PubMed] [Google Scholar].
  • 25.   Reid Chassiakos Y.L., Radesky J., Christakis D., Moreno M.A., Cross C. Council on communications and media. Children and adolescents and digital media. Pediatrics. 2016; 138 [PubMed] [Google Scholar].
  • 26.   Singh N., Sultan A., Juneja A., Aggarwal I., Palkit T., Ohri T. Integration of teledentistry in oral healthcare during COVID-19 pandemic. Saint Int Dent J. 2020; 4:77–81. [Google Scholar].
  • 27.   Underwood B., Birdsall J., Kay E. The use of a mobile app to motivate evidence-based oral hygiene behaviour. Br Dent J. 2015; 219:E2. doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2015.660. [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar].
  • 28.   Almalki M., FitzGerald G., Clark M. Health care system in Saudi Arabia: an overview. East Mediterr Health J. 2011:784–793. [PubMed] [Google Scholar].
  • 29.   da Costa C.B., Peralta F.D.S., Ferreira de Mello A.L.S. How has teledentistry been applied in public dental health services? An integrative review. Telemed J e Health. 2020; 26:945–954. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 30. Middelweerd A., Mollee J.S., van der Wal C.N., Brug J., Te Velde S.J. Apps to promote physical activity among adults: a review and content analysis. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Activ. 2014; 11:97. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar].
  • 31.   Scheerman J.F.M., Hamilton K., Sharif M.O., Lindmark U., Pakpour A.H. A theory-based intervention delivered by an online social media platform to promote oral health among Iranian adolescents: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Psychol Health. 2020; 35:449–466. [PubMed] [Google Scholar].
  • 32.   Tiffany B., Blasi P., Catz S.L., McClure J.B. Mobile apps for oral health promotion: content review and heuristic usability analysis. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2018; 6 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 33. Jampani N.D., Nutalapati R., Dontula B.S., Boyapati R. Applications of teledentistry: a literature review and update. J Int Soc Prev Community Dent. 2011; 1:37–44. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 34. World Health Organisation (WHO) Important target groups – school children and youth. https:// www.who.int/oral_health/action/groups/en/ Available from:
  • 35.   Stokes E, Ashcroft A, Platt MJ. Determining Liverpool adolescents’ beliefs and attitudes in relation to oral health. Health Educ Res 2006; 21:192–205.

Data Sharing Statement

There are no additional data available.

Funding

This research received no funding.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed significantly to the work and approve its publication.

Ethics Declaration

This article does not involve any human or animal subjects, and therefore does not require ethics approval.

Acknowledgements

Information not provide.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.


About this article


Cite this article

Ayesha, Mayuri Ganesh, Saigeeta K, et al. Impact of Social Media in Educating and Improving the Oral Health Status in Children. Ind J Dent Educ. 2024;17(4):171-182.


Licence:

Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.


Received Accepted Published
October 18, 2024 December 02, 2024 December 10, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21088/ijde.0974.6099.17424.2

Keywords

Social MediaRemote monitoringCOVID-19 pandemicTeledentistryPersonal digital assistants

Article Level Metrics

Last Updated

Wednesday 17 June 2026, 22:11:24 (IST)


1363

Accesses

11
435
00

Citations


NA
NA
NA

Download citation


Article Keywords


Keyword Highlighting

Highlight selected keywords in the article text.


Timeline


Received October 18, 2024
Accepted December 02, 2024
Published December 10, 2024

licence


Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.


Access this article



Share