Developing health-related smartphone applications for oral health education should consider the end-user's perspectives to ensure they will be usable. This study aimed to explore the opinions of secondary school students in Selangor, Malaysia regarding the use of a smartphone application for oral health education and to identify the features for an oral health education smartphone application from the perspectives of adolescents. Focus group discussions were conducted among Form Two (14-year-old) and Form Four (16-year-old) students from selected government secondary schools in Selangor utilising a semi-structured topic guide until data saturation was achieved. Data were analysed using framework analysis. Ten focus group discussions were conducted involving 77 participants. Mixed opinions were recorded on the use of health-related smartphone applications for oral health education. The preferred features in a health-related smartphone application are disease detection, have games and rewards, educational and fun, access to a dentist, reminders, and user-friendliness. Adolescents are aware of the positive aspect of using health-related smartphone applications for oral health education; however, they are wary of the need to install one. Nevertheless, identifying adolescents’ preferred features of an oral health education app is the first step in developing an application tailored to their needs. Smartphone application could be a timely strategy to improve oral health education delivery and behaviour improvement for this age group.

Background: The Malaysian School Dental Service (SDS) was introduced to provide systematic and comprehensive dental care to school students. The service encompasses promotive, preventive, and, curative dental care. This study aimed to undertake a process evaluation of the SDS based on the perspectives of government secondary school students in Selangor, Malaysia. Methods: The study adopted a qualitative approach to explore the opinions of secondary school students on the SDS implementation in their schools. Data from focus group discussions involving Form Two (14-year-olds) and Form Four (16-year-olds) students from the selected schools were transcribed verbatim and coded using the NVivo software before framework method analysis was conducted. Results: Among the strengths of the SDS were the convenience for students to undergo annual oral examination and dental treatment without having to visit dental clinics outside the school. The SDS also reduced possible financial burdens resulting from dental treatment costs, especially among students from low-income families. Furthermore, SDS helped to improve oral health awareness. However, the oral health education provided by the SDS personnel was deemed infrequent while the content and method of delivery were perceived to be less interesting. The poor attitude of the SDS personnel was also reported by the students. Conclusion: The SDS provides effective and affordable dental care to secondary school students. However, the oral health promotion and education activities need to be improved to keep up with the evolving needs of the target audience.

Objective Having good oral hygiene self-care, especially a regular toothbrushing habit will promote lifelong oral health. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence an adolescent's oral hygiene behaviour is important in developing effective oral health programmes for this age group. This study aimed to explore the motivators and barriers to adolescents' oral hygiene self-care by exploring the perspectives of secondary school students from three government schools in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Methods Focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with Form 2 (14-years-old) and Form 4 (16-years-old) students from selected secondary schools in Selangor using a semi-structured topic guide until data saturation was reached. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using framework method analysis. Results A total of 10 FGDs were conducted involving 77 adolescents. The motivators for good oral hygiene self-care were appearance, fear of oral disease, consequences of oral disease and past toothache experience. The barriers for oral hygiene self-care were poor attitude towards oral care, lack of confidence in toothbrushing skills, snacking habit and the taste of toothpaste. Conclusion Understanding the motivators and barriers to adolescents' oral hygiene self-care is the first step in designing effective oral health education messages. The findings from this study can be used as a guide for oral health education programmes and development of materials that fulfil the needs of the adolescent population.

Oral health attitude and behaviours are important indicators of a person's oral health status. Measuring caries experience is one of the assessments to investigate overall oral health status. Our study aimed to determine the relationship between oral health attitude and caries experience in a group of first year dental students in Faculty of Dentistry, USIM, Malaysia. The hypothesis was the higher HU-DBI score of a person, the lower their DMFT score. All 35 newly registered first year dental students were examined clinically, and their caries status was measured using the DMFT score, a standard index used to measure caries experience with lower score indicates low caries experience. Hiroshima University - Dental Behaviour Inventory (HU-DBI) questionnaire in English version was used to measure their oral health attitude. Twelve items were selected and scored, with one point given for each agree/ disagree answer given. Higher scores indicate better oral health attitude and behaviour, with maximum score of 12. Data were statistically analysed using SPSS ver. 17. Pearson correlation were used to analyse the strength of linear relationship between oral health attitude (HU-DBI score) and caries experience (DMFT score). There was no significant correlation between oral health attitude and caries experience (r = - 0.022, p value =0.9). However, the correlation coefficient showed a negative trend, possibly indicating an inverse relationship between the two variables.