The VOHSS
Data Collection and Measurement for Oral Health.
The World Dental Federation (FDI) recently stated that oral diseases remain the most prevalent condition globally, affecting almost one-half of the world's population (3.5 billion people) and are strongly associated with other NCD’s (non-communicable diseases), including diabetes, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.1
On January 21, 2021, the World Health Organization passed a resolution on Oral Health, supported by 42 Member States and summarized by Director General Tedros, "Oral Health has been overlooked for too long in the global health agenda. 14 years after the last consideration of oral health by EB60 (WHO Executive Board statement), today's resolution provides a welcome opportunity to address the public health challenges posed by the burden of oral diseases and to reposition oral health as part of the global health agenda in the context of UHC (Universal Health Coverage)."2
For science to determine effective oral health preventive and treatment strategies, we at GSX believe there needs to be robust measurement and data collection of the important parameters of oral disease in afflicted populations.
The Visual Oral Health Screening System (VOHSS) is designed to measure and record 12 parameters of the full spectrum of oral health, not just tooth decay. The system is available as an app operating on an iPad platform with visually prompted information collection that enhances objectivity, uniformity, and accuracy to the data and encrypted upload for central storage.
Screening exams can be conducted by many different levels of health care personnel using training guidance available from this website. Screening of large numbers of people from diverse geography in field conditions will establish baseline data and facilitate discovery of data point interrelationships. Data collection that accurately reflects incidence of disease in a population, scientifically identifies effective interventions, will improve allocation of resources.
The system is also quite amenable to partnership with Teledentistry. The VOHSS provides an important "check list" of clinical conditions that must be scored to generate a rich report and important data for analysis.
A link to a live demonstration of the VOHSS can be found on this website:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m4owwopte82mmk4/Electronic%20Oral%20Health%20Screening%20System-interaction.mov?dl=0
Dr. Joseph R. Greenberg can be contacted at jgreenberg@gsxpharma.com for further discussion and fees to contract for it's use.
References:
- JADA 152(8), August 2021.
- WHO Executive Board, EB148/8, 21 January 2021.