JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Over 95% of adults text-message (TM). Despite the fact that there are effective preventive treatments for dental decay, caries experience among pre-school aged children has remained relatively unchanged for two decades, with marked disparities in untreated decay and dental care access. There are no TM studies focusing on oral health for vulnerable children.

Objective:

This is a pilot randomized trial testing effects of oral health text messages (OHT) vs. control (child wellness text messages; CWT). OHT was hypothesized to outperform CWT on improving pediatric oral health behaviors and parent attitudes.

Methods:

Parents with a child <7 years were recruited at urban clinics during pediatric appointments (78.8%

Results:

Only one participant dropped-out during the TMs and n=47 completed the follow-up survey. TM response rates (74.2%) and program satisfaction (M=6.3; 1-7 scale) were high, with no significant group differences. 84% of OHT would recommend the program to others, and participants reported high perceived impact of the TMs on brushing their child’s teeth, motivation to address child's oral health, and knowledge of their child's oral health needs (M=4.7, M=4.6, M=4.6, respectively; 1-5 scales). At follow-up, compared to CWT, OHT was more likely to brush their children’s teeth twice per day (OR=1.37; 95% CI=0.28, 6.5), and improved their attitude regarding use of fluoride (OR=3.82; 95%CI=0.9-16.8;1) and towards getting regular dental check-ups for their child (OR = 4.68, 95% CI [.24, 91.4]). There were modest, not significant changes in motivation (p=0.45) and self-efficacy (p=0.63) to engage in oral health behaviors which tended to favor OHT (d=0.28 and 0.16 for motivation and self-efficacy respectively).

Conclusions:

The program demonstrated feasibility, was well-utilized and appealing to the target population, and shows promise for efficacy. Clinical Trial: This is a pilot trial and our funder (NIH) told us not to register.