Zero Cavity: a smartphone app that helps parents prevent tooth decay in young children
Official title: Innovative mHealth Intervention providing Sustained Anticipatory Guidance (Zero Cavity): Design, Validation, User Perception, and Effectiveness
Funded at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research Trust · NIH-11351610 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A mobile app that sends age‑appropriate tips and reminders to parents to help prevent cavities in babies and young children.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research Trust NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chennai, India) |
| Project start | September 15, 2023 |
| Project end | May 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $213,343 |
| NIH project number | 4R33TW012359-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11351610 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are parents or primary caregivers of infants and young children (especially under age 5) who have smartphone access and live in communities with limited dental services.
✕Less likely to help
Families without reliable smartphone access, older children outside the app’s target age range, or children with advanced untreated dental disease may not benefit directly from this app.
What this research studies
As a parent, you would get a phone app that delivers tailored oral‑care advice and reminders timed to your child’s age and needs. The team will build the app using interviews and focus groups with parents, pediatricians, and dentists so the messages fit real family situations. They will test the app’s usability, validate its content against expert guidance, and measure whether using it reduces early childhood tooth decay. The project emphasizes low‑resource settings where phone access can help families who have trouble reaching dental care.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the app could lower rates of early childhood cavities and reduce the need for dental procedures in young children.
How similar studies have gone: Earlier work using phone calls and text messages to provide sustained anticipatory guidance showed promising prevention of early childhood caries, and translating that approach into a mobile app is a novel but related step.
Where this research is happening
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Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research Trust
Chennai, India Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Murugan, Muthu Satta — Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research Trust
- Study coordinator: Murugan, Muthu Satta
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.