Mobile technologies for oral health: an implementation guide

Book excerpt: Oral diseases affect about 3.5 billion people around the world. As well as impacting health, they also affect overall well-being and quality of life, especially where resources for prevention, diagnosis and treatment are limited. Approaches based on new digital health technologies can contribute to better oral health for all. In the context of the Be He@lthy Be Mobile initiative, the World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union have developed "Mobile technologies for oral health: an implementation guide." This new resource provides guidance on promoting oral health, training health workers, detecting oral health conditions, collecting epidemiological data, and monitoring the quality of patient care, all through mobile technologies. It will help countries develop and implement mOralHealth programmes to complement existing oral health programmes. The handbook is intended to assist policy- and decision-makers and implementers to realize a national or large-scale mOralHealth programme.