Fancy decorating your mouth in the colours of your favourite Cricket World Cup team?
It’s now entirely possible thanks to the work of University of Queensland dentistry PhD student and budding software developer Dr William Ha.
Via his free app BraceMate, Dr Ha has allowed patients to select the colours of their braces and see how they would look in advance of their trip to the dentist’s chair.
“If you had the desire you could show your support at the current World Cup by having a green and gold pattern for Australia – or the colours of any other participating nation,” Dr Ha said.
“Technically, if you wanted you could have 24 different colours.”
Dr Ha said the app was not strictly for sports fans – it was conceived out a desire to solve two different issues in the fitting of braces.
Firstly, patients were often unaware they could select colour preferences and were caught making impulsive decisions on the day of fitting.
Secondly, the process led to delays for orthodontists and patients alike and caused unnecessary financial wastage through lost time.
“Time-saving is kind of my thing,” Dr Ha said.
“The current system has a person sitting in a chair at the orthodontist and choosing a scheme from a colour wheel.
“It’s hard to be creative on the spot or envisage how you would actually look.”
BraceMate is Dr Ha’s second released phone app.
The former Brisbane State High student previously released Dental Prescriber in 2011, a simplified source for dentists to ascertain suitable dosages and medication types.
Media: Dr William Ha +61 0438 012 573, w.ha@uq.edu.au; Senior Media Officer Robert Burgin, +617 3346 3035 or +61 0448 410 364, r.burgin@uq.edu.au.
