Reporting by Mobile Phone of Adverse Reactions after Dental Treatment

Objectives: A large number of dental materials is available on the market and some materials can cause allergic reactions. The frequency and nature of possible reactions is not well known since there are few prospective studies regarding adverse reactions from these materials. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of reporting of experienced adverse reactions related to dental treatment using cost effective technology. In addition, the project should have minimal impact on the daily work at the participating dental practices.
Methods: Following treatment, patients were invited by the dentist to participate in the study. All patients who accepted to participate signed an informed consent form. At the end of the day, the dentist sent an encrypted photo to the study office of the patient list of the day, including names and mobile phone numbers of the participants. The photo was sent via the mobile phone app “Signal” (Cohn-Gordon, et al 2017). Three days after the treatment day, a text message was sent to the participant’s mobile phone including a question about experienced adverse reactions after the dental treatment three days earlier. The participants replied with a “YES” or “NO”. Participants who confirmed adverse reactions were contacted a week after treatment for a standardized interview via mobile phone.
Results: The pilot study was conducted during a period of three weeks at one dental practice, with two participating dentists, and 86 participating patients. Of these 81 (94 %) responded to the text message. The method for collection of data worked as planned, and had minimal impact on the daily work at the dental practice.
Conclusions: The method used to collect data regarding the patient’s experience of adverse reactions related to the dental treatment was useful and can be used to collect experiences from a large number of patients.