Digital Health in Children's Oral and Dental Health: An Overview and a Bibliometric Analysis.

Digital health technologies can widely increase access to oral health solutions and can make them easier to use and more accessible at all primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. This study aims to present a bibliometric analysis of published literature to identify the content, trends, and context of digital health technology use in children's oral and dental health. After finalising the research question, the Scopus database was used to search systematically for related keywords from 1997 to 2022. The PRISMA methodology applied for systematic reviews was adopted to refine search results. VOS viewer software was applied to illustrate the topics and trends of digital health technology involved in children's oral and dental health. An increase in use of the digital technologies was appeared in the index keywords after 2005. Computer-assisted therapy/surgery, computer simulation, computer program, image processing, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging, and audio-visual equipment were more used index keywords in children's dental care re-search from 2005-2015. Telemedicine, mobile application, virtual reality, and medical information were reported with the index keywords of dental caries, dental procedures, and dental anxiety after 2015. The study also identified a gap in the published literature in applying newer digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and gamification, in oral and dental health research and practice. There is a growing tendency to use digital technologies in children's oral and dental health in recent years. Although the types and categorisations of the technology are typically diverse during the timeframe and by the area of dental services and oral health, identifying and categorizing these technologies based on oral health services could familiarise oral health policymakers with the application of the technology and help them design technology-based interventions to improve children's oral health.

Memory decline in older individuals predicts an objective indicator of oral health: findings from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study.

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests that there is an association between poor oral health and cognitive function in late adulthood. However, most studies to date have relied on cross-sectional research methods that do not permit inferences about the temporality of any association. Moreover, the few longitudinal studies that do exist have typically relied on small samples and quite limited cognitive or oral health assessments. The aim of the present study was therefore designed to provide the first direct evaluation of whether cognitive function is predictive of poor oral health in older adults. METHODS: This longitudinal research included data from 339 participants aged 70 years or older from The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (MAS), a large cohort of healthy community-dwelling older adults. Cognitive function was assessed using a battery of tests at baseline (Wave 1) in 2005 and six years later (Wave 4) in 2011. In 2015 (Wave 6), participants were assessed for oral health using the Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT), number of functional occluding pairs of natural teeth and sublingual resting saliva pH (SRSpH). Ordinal least squares regression analysis was used to model the effect of cognitive function on total OHAT score, and binomial logistic regression used for SRSpH and occluding pairs of functional teeth. RESULTS: Two models were tested. In the partially adjusted model, age, gender and years of education were included. The fully adjusted model additionally included medical conditions, general health, depression, smoking, alcohol consumption, functionality, and dental care utilization. The key finding to emerge was that a six-year change in memory (from Wave 1 to Wave 4) was associated with lower sublingual resting saliva pH at Wave 6 in partially (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.65) and fully adjusted model (OR = 0.63). CONCLUSIONS: This longitudinal study provides further evidence that a relationship between cognitive function and oral health exists, and also points to this relationship potentially being bi-directional, as previous evidence suggests. The findings from the study also suggest that older adults who present with greater than normal memory decline at an earlier point in life were more likely to experience poor oral health when this was evaluated at a later time-point, four years later.

Can chronic oral inflammation and masticatory dysfunction contribute to cognitive impairment?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article provides an overview of current literature focused on oral health and cognitive impairment in older adulthood, focusing in particular on whether oral inflammation, tooth loss and masticatory dysfunction might increase the risk of cognitive impairment in this age group. RECENT FINDINGS: There is now general acceptance that cognitive impairment contributes to poor oral health, largely through detrimental changes in behaviours related to maintaining good oral hygiene. There is more limited evidence for the reverse causal direction, but at least some studies now suggest that inflammatory mechanisms, tooth loss and masticatory dysfunction each have the potential to contribute to cognitive decline. SUMMARY: Poorer oral health significantly correlates with cognitive dysfunction, and at least some studies suggest that there may be a bi-directional causal relationship. Randomized controlled trials assessing cognitive abilities in relation to oral hygiene or oral health interventions, or provision of removable or fixed (implant-supported) dentures, are encouraged.