Dr Yohan Shin is a South Korean dentist who practises restorative, prosthetic, endodontic and implant dentistry. The BOB App has motivated his patients to clean in between their teeth daily and keep track of their progress with each visit. (Image: Yonsei Smiling Kids Dental Clinic)
Curaden’s BOB App is an easy-to-use app that allows you to keep track of your patients’ interdental bleeding and provide them with a mouth map indicating which interdental brush to use for each interdental space. The app motivates patients to reduce and eliminate their BOB (bleeding on brushing) scores at home through daily interdental cleaning and come back for regular prevention-based check-ups. South Korean dentist Dr Yohan Shin has successfully introduced the app as a motivational tool to engage patients in their own oral health.
Dr Shin, what motivated you to get the BOB App? Previously, I didn’t have a digital tool for recording the correct size of interdental brushes for each patient, and I kept a written record. It was a very time-consuming process, so I thought that the BOB App could make things faster and easier for me. I was looking for an effective means of recording my patients’ bleeding on interdental brushing and providing them with a visualisation of their mouths.
Thanks to the BOB App’s simple mouth map, my patients can see the inflammatory state of each interdental space and exactly which brushes to use at home. This visualisation, combined with seeing how things improve with each check-up, motivates them to brush interdentally daily.
A simple mouth map—which can be printed out or sent to the patient via email—shows which interdental spaces are inflamed and where each interdental brush should be used. Patients are motivated to improve their oral health with each visit. (Image: Curaden)
I believe South Korea is very prevention-minded already, so how has the BOB App brought more awareness of prevention to the practice?
I do my best to make the BOB score process interactive. I usually ask my patients to bring in the interdental brushes they currently use. In most cases, they use brushes that are too small, or they use the same brush for every interdental space. I then show them in a detailed way how I select the right interdental brush for each interdental space, show them where the bleeding is and, simultaneously, save their records.
BOB scores are very useful because I can compare a patient’s records over time. I can explain to each patient specifically how to improve and show them their improvement in gingival health. It is very convenient that the BOB App allows you to share this information with your patient via email.
Some dentists may be worried that the BOB App is just another app that will cost them time or interrupt their workflow.
There was a short learning curve, as is the case with a lot of new things. As I continued to use the app and make it part of my daily routine in the clinic, the process went more and more quickly. In the end, it has been worth it; the BOB App has improved the prognosis of my patients’ teeth, and they have a way to maintain their oral health in the long term.
The BOB App shows patients which interdental spaces bleed on interdental brushing and which interdental brushes they need to use to resolve this. In this way, patients are motivated to become active participants in their own health. (Image: Yonsei Smiling Kids Dental Clinic)
What has the reaction of your patients been like so far? They like the mouth map. It shows so clearly which brush they need for each site, whereas the BOB score quantifies how inflamed or healthy their mouth is. The BOB app engages patients in their own health and makes it much easier for them to see the point of brushing interdentally at home. A visual aid at home for patients plays a huge role in helping them understand their problems and change their behaviour.
Has the number of recalls in the practice changed since using the BOB App?
In my opinion, preventive treatment with the BOB App is a better practice advertisement than simply advertising on social media. When patients feel they are receiving treatment, but without the element of pain, they are greatly satisfied. It encourages them to recommend our clinic to their family and friends. If patients visit the dentist with confidence and a feeling of security, then compliance can only improve.
The Bob App in three steps
Determine your patients’ interdental bleeding by inserting the correct interdental brush into each interdental space. The Curaprox colorimetric probe is an easy tool for doing this. The colour indicated by the probe correlates with the colour of the Curaprox brush needed.
Input the correct brush for each interdental space, as well as the interdental bleeding sites, into the mouth map. The result is an easy-to-understand mouth map showing which interdental spaces are inflamed and where each size of interdental brush should be used.
The mouth map can be printed for the patient to take home or emailed. The visual representation makes interdental inflammation understandable for patients and motivates them to brush interdentally to reduce their BOB scores. They can see their improvement with each visit to the practice.
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