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Helping general dental practitioners use the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need: an assessment of available educational apps

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Abstract

Introduction The Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) defines who receives treatment on the NHS. The British Orthodontic Society developed the 'Easy IOTN' app to help the dental team use IOTN more effectively.

Aim This study aims to investigate the quality of the 'Easy IOTN' app and any alternative mobile apps developed to aid a dentist's ability to use IOTN.

Materials and methods The App Store and Google Play were searched to identify available apps which provide an educational resource for IOTN. Any app identified was assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) and the Royal College of Physicians' health informatics unit checklist. The 'Easy IOTN' app continuous professional development (CPD) section was assessed for accuracy using a focus group.

Results Only the 'Easy IOTN' app was identified. It has a mean MARS score of 3.6. Significant inaccuracies were found within the CPD component of the 'Easy IOTN' app.

Discussion A mean MARS score of 3.6 is deemed average and is comparable to the quality of other orthodontic apps which exist. Errors contained within the CPD component could confuse users and have a negative impact on IOTN skill development.

Conclusions The educational component of the 'Easy IOTN' app is of an acceptable standard, but the CPD section is flawed.

Key points

  • Highlights available educational resources for the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need.

  • Details problems with the continuing professional development section of the easy Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need app.

  • Assesses the quality of the easy Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need app, which is the first study of its kind.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank member of the Orthodontic Department at Dundee Dental Hospital for their time and support in forming the focus group to assess the CPD component of the app.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dundee Dental Hospital, University of Dundee, UK

    David G. Murray

  2. University of Dundee, Dundee, UK

    Gautham Sivamurthy & Peter Mossey

Authors
  1. David G. Murray
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  2. Gautham Sivamurthy
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  3. Peter Mossey
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Contributions

David Murray: study design, investigation, statistical analysis and authorship of initial draft. Gautham Sivamurthy and Peter Mossey: study design, review and contribution to all subsequent drafts of manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David G. Murray.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

As this study was confined to the evaluation of a tool without utilising patients or confidential data, and the focus group was voluntarily assembled without patient or public involvement, no ethical approval was required for this study.

The focus group participants, made up of colleagues, consented to participate.

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G. Murray, D., Sivamurthy, G. & Mossey, P. Helping general dental practitioners use the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need: an assessment of available educational apps. Br Dent J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-6445-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-6445-x

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