Nowadays there are apps for everything. There’s MyFitnessPal for staying in shape. Cook’s Illustrated and Epicurious so you can cook up a storm. RetailMeNot so you’ll never be short a coupon when you need one.
When we say there are apps for everything, we mean it. One area that is, of course, very close to our hearts—oral hygiene—too has a number of apps. Here are the top 5 best dental apps that’ll help you keep your mouth clean.
Here’s a wonderful app that’ll dazzle you with its graphics. Cleaning Your Teeth is technically an educational game, designed to show you how to properly brush. The app has colorful 3D animations of the mouth, teeth, and toothbrush. The animations demonstrate proper brushing techniques. You can also adjust the age setting because under-18 year olds have to brush slightly differently from over-18 year olds.
This is an app that’s perfect for people who like to torture themselves with self-diagnosis on WebMD. The ADA Dental Symptom Checker enables you to match your symptoms against a self-diagnosis quiz. The app is complete with illustrations of the mouth in which you can click specific locations or symptoms—e.g. “toungue-back”, “tongue-top”, or “chipped tooth”, “electric shock sensation”—and the program will give you suggested problems. Once you’ve diagnosed yourself, click on the “Find-a-Dentist” button to get it dealt with.
Offered through Google Play, this app isn’t strictly a dental app. You can make it so, however. Habit Streak assists you in achieving goals in exercise, diet, or any other area of your life. Each day you report on whether you succeeded yesterday. This builds up streaks of habits, which over time (scientists say roughly 21 days) the activities become routine in your life. Habit Streak is perfect for adopting better oral hygiene habits. Whether its learning to brush twice a day for two minutes or remembering to floss, Habit Streak will make sure it becomes part of your daily regimen.
This app is basically a giant library of Q&As with responses from dental experts. It addresses basic questions like “How to choose a dentist” to more complicated matters like endodontic procedures. It also has a very illuminating “Myths vs. Facts” section and offers tips for reducing anxiety related to going to the dentist’s.
A fun and important app, Brush DJ makes brushing for the required 2 minutes a little less boring. Brush DJ picks a song at random from the music on your phone. It then plays it for 2 minutes. As long as the music’s playing, you’ve got to keep brushing. Simple yet brilliant. It also features a few extras: reminders for changing toothbrushes, brushing and flossing, and even visiting the dentist.
