Core Objectives

According to Children’s Dental and Orthodontics, “40% of children suffer from preventable tooth decay. This is because of not brushing their teeth properly or not brushing at all. It leads to many other problems, which include pain.” (2019).

Our gamified experience is an app called Captain Incisor’s Plaque Fight, geared towards kids ages 4-11 (Elementary School Age). The app will primarily focus on helping childcare facilities and families instill dental hygiene practices in kids’ daily routines in order to prevent tooth decay and other health issues. By implementing good dental hygiene, kids can avoid having painful issues like cavities.

The core objectives of this app are:

• Practice good dental hygiene

o   Brushing 2x per day

•   “The American Dental Association recommends brushing your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste for two minutes each time.” (When to Brush Your Teeth, 2021).

o   Recognize 2-minute brushing time

o   Flossing

o   Attend regular check-ups

• Encourage good habit-building that can be transferred to other life skills

• Implement accountability for dental hygiene.

o   Having good reports at regular dental checkups. (e.g no excessive cavities and good overall oral health)

Mechanics

Captain Incisor’s Plaque Fight will allow parents to track their kids’ dental hygiene routines. Inside the app, parents or kids under parental supervision will be able to mark whether they have brushed their teeth twice daily and flossed. The app will record points for each month based on the actions completed.

• Depending on the number of days in the month there will be a maximum of 336 to 372 points.

• Points will reset on the first of each month.

• App defaults to rewards earned at thresholds of 70 pts, 150 pts, 280 pts, and 350 pts. These thresholds can be edited to better meet the child’s needs.

• Reward and point threshold suggestions:

o   70 pts – Kid gets to pick out a new dental hygiene kit (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, gum and/or stickers)

o   150 pts – Kid gets to choose a movie for family movie night or have a fast-food lunch

o   280 pts – Pick out a toy from the store for under $10

o   350 pts – Kid gets an activity/outing of their choice (movie theater, pottery painting, museum, etc.)

When loading the app, users can select Story, Fight Log, Rewards, Settings, or History. By tapping the Story emblem, the user will be taken to a comic-style e-book detailing the story of Captain Incisor and his fight against plaque and tooth decay. The Fight Log will open the current day’s log of hygiene activities. Users will tap on the appropriate tooth symbol (AM or PM) to start the brushing timer. The timer will play a 2-minute-long melody to ensure teeth are brushed for the appropriate amount of time. When the melody has finished, the checkmark will appear on the tooth. There is also an option to mark flossing which will earn the user bonus points. Throughout the day, the points total will update at the bottom of the screen based on the activities completed. Arrows at the top of the screen allow users to navigate to previous or present day’s records. The Rewards button will take the user to a screen showing the current month’s reward progress. Progress is shown through a progress meter that fills according to the points earned. The Settings button will take the user to a screen where they can adjust point thresholds, specific rewards, and lockout times. The History button will take users to a page that shows their past brushing records (daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly).  

Dynamics

Story

When starting the app for the first time, users will be introduced to Captain Incisor’s story:

Captain Incisor has enlisted kids everywhere to help in the fight against plaque!

Plaque can cause tooth decay, which makes all the teeth sad.

You can help Captain Incisor rid the world of plaque and make all the teeth happy by brushing your teeth twice a day for at least 2 minutes!

You can help with the fight even more by flossing and getting your regularly scheduled dental checkups!

After the opening story, the parent or adult may consider showing a short video about dental hygiene or continuing into the app.

Example Video: How to Brush your Teeth: Tooth Brushing for Kids

Fight Log

In the Fight Log, users will keep track of their daily dental hygiene routine by indicating when their teeth have been brushed and flossed. Users can also monitor their daily points total throughout the day to see how they have progressed. When a child taps on the tooth, a timer (2 minutes) with a melody will appear on the screen of the app. Which signals the child to begin to brush their teeth. The checkmark will not appear until after the timer has gone off. When a child taps on the AM tooth, the app automatically locks them from tapping on the PM tooth for a default period of 6 hours (settings allow parents to adjust the lockout time between the AM and PM brushing routines). Flossing can be completed as many times as the child would like but will only count for points once per day.

Rewards

• Reward suggestions for parents could include but are not limited to:

o   A new dental hygiene kit (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, gum and/or stickers)

o   Choose a movie for family movie night or have a fast-food lunch

o   Pick out a toy from the store for under $10

o   An activity/outing of the kid’s choice (movie theater, pottery painting, museum, etc.)

Rewards are included in the app to motivate the child to create and maintain a healthy dental routine. Each goal that is completed by the child encourages further engagement in the activity/app. Parents can set proper goal rewards based on their child’s age, interests, or even abilities.

Settings

The users and their families can customize the app to best suit their needs by adjusting timers, point goals, and rewards.

History

The user has the choice of seeing the daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly totals through the use of the app.

Aesthetics

The “world” of the app is that of Captain Incisor. In this world, Captain Incisor is the hero out to defeat evil plaque that is causing tooth decay. Captain Incisor needs help from kids to fight off plaque. Help comes through kids brushing and flossing their teeth and thus getting rid of plaque. Kids are rewarded with points for their efforts which then earn them different rewards. The aesthetics of our gamified experience are reminiscent of comic books and pop art. The app will be vibrantly colored with primary colors to appeal to kids. The brushing timer will play a fun catchy tune to ensure proper brushing time. When an activity has been completed a “WHAM”, “POW”, or “BAM” will appear.

The app encourages kids to want to help Captain Incisor by utilizing the classic hero’s journey.

1.      “Call to adventure” (Schell, 2020).

a.       The request from Captain Incisor to help with the fight against plaque.

2.      “Meeting with the Mentor” (Schell, 2020)

a.       Introduction to Captain Incisor and his instructions on how to defeat plaque.

3.      Tests

a.       Completing the daily dental routine.

4.      “The reward” (Schell, 2020)

a.       The points that are earned and ultimately used to gain a real-world reward.

Implementation

This app will encourage kids to actively participate in their daily dental health routine. Dental offices and childcare facilities could promote the use of the app and offer their own incentives for proof of points earned as well. Children will learn about accountability using this app daily, monthly, and even yearly. Using the app, the child will be able to see how often they followed the dental hygiene routine created, be able to demonstrate this to their dental office and families, as well as use the data within the app to investigate when cavities formed based on their dental routine.

The app has the ability for families to determine the best way to implement dental hygiene routines for their child and dictate the rewards given once reaching certain markers in the point system. Families are encouraged to adjust the point system and timers as the child matures and settles into their routine.  Parents will also be able to set the “lock time” between AM and PM specifically for their child. This implementation will prevent the child from tapping all available boxes within minutes and demonstrates the importance of hygiene, routines, and overall good health habits. 

The app allows for flexibility of rewards based on what parents/guardians deem appropriate for each achievement accomplished by their child. Examples have been included to provide a guideline for reward setting. Families will also have multiple ways of keeping up with the data. The app implements a goal chart for the families to reference back to and it also includes a printable copy for those who wish to color in their growth each month. The printable copy is great for younger kids to have constant sight of their hygiene goals. It also allows the child to be accountable for their actions when choosing to complete the daily tasks.

Captain Incisor’s Plaque Fight will be available on all mobile devices for ease of access. Professional developers would be hired to create the app experience as well as a professional illustrator to focus on the comic-style e-book and character creation.

Proposed App Home Page

Project Details

Date: November 2022

Course: Gamification

Collaborators: Doreene Torres-Deese

Resources and Tools Used: Adobe Express and Microsoft Word