A personal digital assistant application (MobilDent) for dental fieldwork data collection, information management and database handling.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a personal digital assistant (PDA) application for oral health assessment fieldwork, including back-office and database systems (MobilDent).


METHODS
System design, construction and implementation of PDA, back-office and database systems.


METHODS
System requirements for MobilDent were collected, analysed and translated into system functions. User interfaces were implemented and system architecture was outlined. MobilDent was based on a platform with. NET (Microsoft) components, using an SQL Server 2005 (Microsoft) for data storage with Windows Mobile (Microsoft) operating system. The PDA devices were Dell Axim.


RESULTS
System functions and user interfaces were specified for MobilDent. User interfaces for PDA, back-office and database systems were based on. NET programming. The PDA user interface was based on Windows suitable to a PDA display, whereas the back-office interface was designed for a normal-sized computer screen. A synchronisation module (MS Active Sync, Microsoft) was used to enable download of field data from PDA to the database.


CONCLUSIONS
MobilDent is a feasible application for oral health assessment fieldwork, and the oral health assessment database may prove a valuable source for care planning, educational and research purposes. Further development of the MobilDent system will include wireless connectivity with download-on-demand technology.
Forsell
M
M
Oral Care AB, Stockholm, Sweden.
Häggström
M
M
Johansson
O
O
Sjögren
P
P
D003149:Community Dentistry / Q000379:methods; D034201:Computers, Handheld; D003625:Data Collection / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019992:Databases as Topic; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D019451:Information Management / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods; D011215:Practice Management, Dental; D012985:Software Design; D012986:Software Validation; D013548:Sweden; D014584:User-Computer Interface