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CC BY 4.0 · European Journal of General Dentistry 2023; 12(01): 020-025
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1761931
Original Article

Teledentistry: An Appraisal of Google Play Store Applications

Hasan Mujtaba   *
1   School of Dentistry, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad, Pakistan
,
Muhammad Farooq Umer    *
2   Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Hofuf, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
,
Eman Afroze
3   University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
,
Farooq Ahmad Chaudhary 
4   School of Dentistry, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad, Pakistan
,
Shumaila Zofeen
5   School of Public Health, Xian Jiaotong University, Shaanxi, Xian, China
,
Awais Farid
6   Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
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Abstract

Objectives M-health technology facilitates and equips us with the required medical-related information and knowledge. This research work aims to provide an overview of m-health apps related to dentistry on the Google Play Store.

Materials and Methods This widely used official smartphone platform was screened for the most widely available apps by putting the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and keywords “teledentistry, dentistry, and dental” and the resultant apps were evaluated for the number of downloads, ratings, release date, and number of reviews.

Results The apps were categorized depending upon their applicability into different subgroups, which include patient education apps, dentist appointment apps, kid's apps, undergraduate apps, graduates and general dentist apps, postgraduate dentist apps, commercial and social networking apps, and other miscellaneous apps. The engagement of the users was evaluated in all the categories and the applicability of apps in respective categories was evaluated. The study concluded that despite plentiful apps in each category, the engagement of individuals with the m-health apps related to dentistry is relatively low. However, few creative apps in each category showed bright prospects for productivity and engagement.

Conclusion Centralization and appropriately supervised apps with quality information by some official health care platforms can enhance the effectiveness and prepare this platform for the future of dentistry in the world of semantic web and blockchain.

Keywords

dental - dentistry - educational dentistry - online applications - android.

Data Availability

All the data are extracted from the Google Play Store and is available/downloadable via android application.


Supplementary Materials

All the applications available on Google Play Store are tabulated in respective category and attached as a supplementary file.


* Indicates first authors of the article.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Article published online:
21 April 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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