Original Research

Year : 2025 | Volume : 16 | Issue : 3 | Page : 35-48

Design Of A Mobile Application For Orofacial Muscle Exercise Delivery

Rajkumar Parthasarathy1, Sedhubharath Senthilkumar2, Umarevathi Gopalakrishnan3, Narayanasamy Krishnasamy4, Kalpana Singaram5, Haritha Prakriti Bose C6

 1-Post Graduate Resident, 2-Intern, 3-Professor, Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Sri Venkateswara Dental College and Hospital, Chennai,  4-Vice Chancellor, 5-Research Officer, Department of Epidemiology, The TamilNadu Dr. MGR Medical University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India,  6-Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Sri Venkateswara Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India,  

Address for Correspondence:

Dr. Umarevathi Gopalakrishnan

Professor, Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics,
Sri Venkateswara Dental College and Hospital,

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
E-mail: umarevathigopalakrishnan@gmail.com
ABSTRACT

Background: Persistence of oral habits such as thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, nail biting, lip biting, and mouth breathing, can disrupt orofacial muscular equilibrium. Early identification and interception are needed to address these imbalances. Corrective muscular exercises can serve as adjuncts to commonly practiced usage of habit breaking appliances, intercepting these imbalances and also to minimise long-term general health hazards caused by oral habits. These orofacial exercises are particularly useful in rural populations where access to orthodontic care is limited.

Objective: The objectives were 1) to assess prevalence of parafunctional oral habits among children of 5 -12 years in Chengalpattu, 2) to develop a mobile application for delivering corrective orofacial muscle exercises for the assessed habit positive individuals. 3) to implement refinements in the application through feedbacks received from the users.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 404 children using a structured questionnaire and clinical examination. Association between oral habits and medical, behavioral, and cognitive parameters were analyzed using the chi-square test with level of significance (p < 0.05).

Results: Prevalence of oral habits was 18.56%. Significant associations were found between oral habits and issues like breathing difficulty (p=0.01), ear infections (p=0.01), and speech issues (p<0.001). A mobile application demonstrating 31 lip, tongue, and cheek exercises in English and Tamil was developed. User feedback led to feature enhancements such as enhanced search functionality, inclusion of disclaimer and other updates for improved navigation.

Conclusion: The study highlights the increased association of oral habits with medical problems reinforcing the need for early intervention in children with oral habits and imbalance in orofacial muscular tonicity. To address this, we offer a digital solution that delivers easily accessible orofacial muscle exercises. The application is intended to improve muscle tonicity and restore the equilibrium between orofacial muscular equilibrium between tongue, cheeks and lips which are planned to be evaluated in future studies.

Keywords: Oral muscle exercise, Oral facial exercise application, oral habits, mobile application.

PRIOR PRESENTATION
This manuscript has not been previously published or presented at any conference.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this manuscript.

ETHICAL APPROVAL
Institutional ethical clearance was obtained prior to the study. Informed consent was acquired from parents/guardians.

How to cite this article: Rajkumar Parthasarathy, Sedhubharath Senthilkumar, Umarevathi Gopalakrishnan, Narayanasamy Krishnasamy, Kalpana Singaram, Haritha Prakriti Bose C. Design Of A Mobile Application For Orofacial Muscle Exercise Delivery. Int J Orthod Rehabil 2025; 16 (3): 35-48.