New smartphone app may help deal with dental emergencies

Have a dental emergency? Your smartphone may be able to help you avoid an unnecessary trip to the hospital, thanks to a new app developed by scientists including one of Indian origin.
Researchers developed a new smartphone application that allows users to capture and transmit images from inside the mouth, along with details on the dental emergency, to provide the information dentists need to make a decision on what - and how urgently - care is needed.
A team mentored by Thankam Thyvalikakath, now at the Indiana University in the US, developed a cellphone application called DentaCom that enables dentists to make decisions when they cannot see the patient.

The new app guides individuals with real or suspected dental emergencies through a series of questions designed to capture clinically meaningful data via familiar smartphone functions.
In the study, all participants were able to complete a guided report on their dental emergency and take photos of the problem region within four minutes. All clinical information was successfully entered by prospective patients via DentaCom.
"It is a challenge for the patient to get the dental emergency appropriately managed, and not just treated by painkillers in a busy hospital ER by a clinician who is not a dental specialist," said Thyvalikakath, who was at University of Pittsburgh at the time of the study.

"It is also a challenge for the dentist to get details of the problem," said Thyvalikakath.

Dental emergencies frequently occur when dental offices are closed. Patients often turn to hospital emergency departments or urgent care centres.
However, most patients who go to these facilities are simply treated for their pain and referred to their dentist for proper care during office hours.
Valuable time may be lost before actual treatment is received, and the patient is billed for the emergency or urgent care visit in addition to whatever dental fees will be incurred.
In contrast to a physician's office, a dentist's office is hands-on and procedure based, and it can be difficult to add an emergent patient to the schedule.

The DentaCom app provides the detailed guidance the dentist needs to determine the urgency of, and appropriately treat, the problem.
"We developed this app as a communication tool linking patients and dentists during emergency situations," said Thyvalikakath.
The study was The Journal of the American Dental Association.