MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design
Orthodontic treatment is becoming increasingly popular among adult patients in many countries, including the United States and China. Tele-orthodontics is an effective tool for improving orthodontic care by providing easy access to medical knowledge. Integrating advanced services such as AI-assisted diagnostics can better support self-paced, patient-centered treatment for busy adults. While teleorthodontics offer opportunities to improve care quality and efficiency, it is essential to understand the complexity and potential conflicts of expected values from multiple stakeholder perspectives.
In this study, we employed a service design approach to understand the orthodontic treatment experience from the perspectives of patients and orthodontists. We developed a framework considering efficiency, usability, and information accuracy in remote dentistry. Expert interviews with UI/UX designers and orthodontists and semi-structured interviews with patients and orthodontists were conducted. Co-creative ideation was used to explore potential concerns and opportunities in adopting new technologies for teleorthodontics. Our analysis revealed five themes that highlighted gaps in concerns and expectations between patients and orthodontists on teledentistry.
Through divergent thinking and seeking inspiration, we developed five design considerations that can address these gaps. These include empowering doctors with control over additional knowledge, designing an engaging and user-friendly approach to simplify patient documentation, clarifying the limitations of remote orthodontic treatment, suggesting using AI as a paramedic, and providing hardware devices as a point of contact. These guidelines can help improve the efficiency and quality of care in teleorthodontics and better manage treatment processes.
Committee: Heekyoung Jung Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jue Wang Ph.D. (Committee Member); Craig Vogel M.I.D. (Committee Member)
Subjects: Design