Quality and Effectiveness of a Personalised App to Support Patients With Fixed Braces

Overview

Mobile phones are potentially an invaluable tool in improving adherence, they are readily available and can utilised to deliver several approaches to improve adherence simultaneously. A personalised App to help support orthodontic patients ('My Braces') was therefore developed by the researchers. The App provides generic treatment information and also has a personalised element. The personalised element allows patients to input their own treatment information (including progress photographs), set goals, develop plans for achieving these and it provides the patient and clinicians with appropriate dashboards to monitor progress. This research will be conducted at the Eastman Dental Hospital, UCLH Foundation Trust, London. The aim is to assess the effectiveness of the My Braces App, an App designed to support patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment. Effectiveness of the My Braces App will be tested by way of a randomised controlled trial. Participants will be allocated to one of three groups: Group A: Standard treatment information (verbal and written) and access to a basic version of the My Braces App with a toothbrushing timer. The timer is necessary as the health behaviour outcome is toothbrushing duration. Group B: As for group A, however, additionally the My Braces App will provide generic treatment information (a combination of videos and text) Group C: As for group B, however, the patients will have access to the full functionality of the My Braces App and the App will allow patients to input their own personalised treatment information (including progress photographs), set goals, develop plans for achieving these and provide the patient and clinicians with appropriate dashboards to monitor progress.

The National Child Dental Health Survey (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) indicated that 9% of 12 years olds are receiving orthodontic treatment (the use of braces to straighten teeth) and a further 37% have an unmet need. Treatment duration is lengthy (2-3 years on average) and adherence to treatment advice is essential for successful outcomes. It has been reported that up to 43% of patients fail to complete treatment and there are currently no useful predictors of non-completion. The NHS England annual spend on primary care orthodontics is in excess of £200 million, non-completion of treatment therefore represents a significant inefficient use of public resources. Mobile phones are potentially an invaluable tool in improving adherence, they are readily available and can utilised to deliver several approaches to improve adherence simultaneously. A personalised App to help support orthodontic patients ('My Braces') was therefore developed by the researchers. The App provides generic treatment information and also has a personalised element. The personalised element allows patients to input their own treatment information (including progress photographs), set goals, develop plans for achieving these and it provides the patient and clinicians with appropriate dashboards to monitor progress. This research will be conducted at the Eastman Dental Hospital, UCLH Foundation Trust, London. The aim is to assess the effectiveness of the My Braces App, an App designed to support patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment. Effectiveness of the My Braces App will be tested by way of a randomised controlled trial. Participants will be allocated to one of three groups: Group A: Standard treatment information (verbal and written) and access to a basic version of the My Braces App with a toothbrushing timer. The timer is necessary as the health behaviour outcome is toothbrushing duration. Group B: As for group A, however, additionally the My Braces App will provide generic treatment information (a combination of videos and text) Group C: As for group B, however, the patients will have access to the full functionality of the My Braces App and the App will allow patients to input their own personalised treatment information (including progress photographs), set goals, develop plans for achieving these and provide the patient and clinicians with appropriate dashboards to monitor progress. It is important to include Group B as this will allow the team to ascertain whether it is the personalisation of the App content which infers any benefit over and above providing generic information via an App if a difference is found between Groups A and C.