Comparison of Effectiveness of Mobile App versus Conventional Educational Lectures on Oral Hygiene Knowledge and Behavior of High School Students in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of two different oral health education approaches, a mobile application (the Brush DJ app) and conventional educational lectures, on the oral hygiene knowledge and behavior of high school children. METHODS: The research was a cross‐sectional study of 271 students from two public schools in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia. An eighteen-item questionnaire was used for this purpose. Those who completed the baseline questionnaire were allocated to one of two groups: (1) mobile application and (2) educational lecture. A follow-up survey was later conducted at three months, which repeated eight of the eighteen questions asked in the baseline survey. The change in oral hygiene attitude and behaviors was compared across both groups. RESULTS: The Brush DJ app was found to be equally effective compared to educational lectures in changing oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior. Both groups showed significant improvements in almost all aspects of oral health, except for the frequency and duration of tooth brushing in the app group. There was no change in twice daily tooth brushing of app users, and less than 40% reported brushing their teeth for 2 minutes. A statistically significant change, however, was noted among lecture group participants in these two areas of oral hygiene routine. The app was also found to be more difficult in usability than educational lectures (p = 0.037). CONCLUSION: The Brush DJ app may be a valuable tool to improve oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior. However, the app needs some improvements. The content and features of the app need to be structured in a way that it allows for personalization and is more interactive, practical and user-friendly.