SCC-IRG Track 1: Smart Connected Oral Health Community: Using AI and Digital Technologies to Close the Gap in Oral Health Disparity

蛀牙是一种流行性疾病，影响全球35%的人口，即24亿人。龋齿（蛀牙）特别影响生活在贫困中的儿童和成年人，他们很难获得牙科护理。目前控制龋齿的生物医学方法取得的成功有限。该项目正在创建一个智能，互联的口腔健康社区，改善护理和更大的口腔健康公平性。研究人员的目标是开发和测试一种基于社区的基础设施，该基础设施将人工智能（AI）技术的使用与智能手机的家庭使用相结合，并通过互动式口腔健康社区中心，移动的货车和社区卫生工作者进行社区参与。该项目有可能改革口腔保健提供系统，用数字化工具赋予社区权力，并克服口腔健康公平的障碍。该模式也可以被其他缺乏服务的人群所采用，例如老年人和难民，他们在获得口腔保健方面面临类似的挑战。该项目团队正在完善基础技术，包括人工智能支持的口腔疾病筛查和云监控管理，以及由牙科智能手机应用程序促进的数据收集，用于家庭自我监测。该小组还在调查这一问题的社会方面。它正在建立由社区卫生工作者支持的口腔健康社区中心，这些社区卫生工作者应用既定的人类激励方法来接触社区中的家庭并赋予他们权力，并教导和激励他们使用新的人工智能应用程序。该团队将评估该项目的社区成果，重点是使用技术工具进行龋齿检测和治疗优先化，以及社区参与口腔健康社区中心的服务。结果将通过供应商和患者的感知能力以及技术的接受度、可用性和有效性来衡量。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Tooth decay is a pandemic disease that affects 35% of the global population, or 2.4 billion people. Dental caries (tooth decay) particularly impacts children and adults living in poverty, who have poor access to dental care. Current biomedical approaches to controlling dental caries have had limited success. This project is creating a smart, connected oral health community with improved access to care and greater oral health equity. The investigators aim to develop and test a community-based infrastructure that combines use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, facilitated by home use of smartphones, with community engagement through interactive oral health community centers, mobile vans, and community health workers. The project has the potential to reform the oral health care delivery system, empower communities with digital tools, and overcome barriers to oral health equity. Beginning with a focus on families with young children, the model could also be adopted by other underserved populations, such as the elderly and refugees, who face similar challenges in accessing oral health care.The project team is refining the underlying technology with AI-powered oral disease screening and management with cloud surveillance, and data collection facilitated by a dentistry smartphone app for at-home self-monitoring. The team is also investigating the social dimensions of the problem. It is establishing oral health community centers supported by community health workers who apply established methods of human motivation to reach and empower families in the community, and to teach and motivate them to use the new AI apps. The team will be assessing community outcomes of the project, with a focus on the use of technology tools for caries detection and treatment prioritization, and community engagement with services in oral health community centers. Outcomes will be measured by the perceived competence of providers and patients, and the technology's acceptance, usability, and effectiveness.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.