Impact of mHealth and eHealth on oral health literacy: A systematic review

• Published in: Digital Health
• Main Authors: Ravinder S Saini, Shubham Chopra, Yahya Ahmed Assiri, Fahad Hussain Alhamoudi, Sunil Kumar Vaddamanu, Mudita Chaturvedi, Mohamed Saheer Kuruniyan, Morteza Banakar, Artak Heboyan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-07-01
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251360955

Background Enhancing oral health-related quality of life requires oral health knowledge. Mobile healthcare increases assistance and healthcare through mobile devices and wireless technologies. Using information and technology, eHealth enhances healthcare services by enabling digital administration and improving data interchange and coordination among providers, but its influence on oral health knowledge and practice is unclear. Therefore, the present article will examine how mHealth and eHealth could improve oral health knowledge and practices. Methods Original research on the function of mHealth and eHealth in enhancing oral health literacy was identified through searches of PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, Dimensions, and the Cochrane Library. The potential articles were selected based on modified Patient/Problem, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Study criteria. The risk of bias in suitable studies was evaluated using the risk of bias visualization tool (Robvis 2.0) and the risk of bias in non-randomized studies with intervention. Results The database search generated 2197 entries, of which 13 publications were used in this analysis. Narrative synthesis revealed that mHealth and eHealth interventions consistently improved oral health knowledge and practices across diverse populations, including caregivers, elderly adults, and dental students. Short message service (SMS)-based interventions enhanced mothers’ knowledge and practices related to children's oral health, while virtual reality technologies improved learning outcomes for dental professionals and students compared to traditional methods. However, improvements in knowledge did not consistently translate to sustained behavior changes, with variations in practice outcomes across studies due to differences in measurement tools and intervention designs. These findings suggest that while digital interventions enhance knowledge, their impact on long-term behavior requires further exploration. Conclusion Mobile apps, SMS-based therapies, and virtual reality applications greatly improved oral health knowledge, habits, and literacy scores across different age groups.