Recharging Smiles: Strategies for Using Mobile Phones in Dental Public Health

Abstract

Through the advent of smartphones, the previously elusive internet is now available to each person right in their hands, with lightning fast speeds available at rather nominal charges. Mobile phones offer numerous solutions to dentists and health workers alike and can be applied in a variety of ways in a public health setting. This paper discusses the application of mobile phones in primary, as well as secondary and tertiary levels of intervention from a dental public health perspective. Indeed, the described strategies can be employed by professionals, alone or combined with other interventions, to enhance the oral health of their patients.