Teoh, Leanne and Biezen, Ruby and Taylor, Marietta and Kaunein, Nadia and Thompson, Wendy and Goh, Charlene and Chew, Jacob and Wimardhani, Yuniardini Septorini and Arzmi, Mohd Hafiz and Kamil, Wan NurHazirah Wan Ahmad and Sooampon, Sireerat and Ayuthaya, Benjar Issaranggun Na and McCullough, Michael (2026) Acceptability and Usability of a Digital Medicines Tool for Dental Practitioners in four Southeast Asian Countries. International Dental Journal, 76 (2).

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Abstract

Introduction and aims Antimicrobial resistance is a global public health emergency and a prominent issue in Southeast Asia. There is also a lack of dental-specific drug resources to assist with medication management for dentists. Our dental-specific decision support tool, MIMS Drugs4dent, was developed to assist Australian dentists optimize their prescribing. The aim of this study was to trial MIMS Drugs4dent for acceptability and usability with dental practitioners in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of MIMS Drugs4dent with dental practitioners in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Dental practitioners were provided access to MIMS Drugs4dent for 1 month. After the intervention period, participants completed an online survey that assessed their perceptions of the tool. The primary outcome was the acceptability and usability of MIMS Drugs4dent, using the Framework for Acceptability and System Usability Scale, respectively. The secondary outcome was to determine the resources used by dental practitioners for drug information. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used for quantitative and qualitative data analysis, respectively. Results From January to June 2025, 30 dentists from each country participated. Most participants (93.4 and 94.2) agreed or strongly agreed that MIMS Drugs4dent can improve their ability to prescribe according to guidelines and access dental-relevant drug information, respectively. Most participants (88.3 and 82.5) agreed or strongly agreed that MIMS Drugs4dent was easy to use and that information could be located quickly. However, participants preferred a local drug database and a mobile-rendered version to improve usability. A wide range of sources (n = 62) were reported to be used for medicines information. Conclusion MIMS Drugs4dent had high acceptability and usability in this study. With adaptation using country-specific localised drug databases, the tool has potential for use in dentistry in these countries. The study underscores the importance of including dentistry in broader digital health strategies. © 2025 The Authors.

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