OSRAQMUL: A Digital Application for Oral Surgery Risk Assessment

Abstract

This extended abstract presents the Oral Surgery Risk Assessment (OSRA) digital application, a technology-enhanced clinical decision-support and learning tool designed to operationalise oral surgery guidelines at the point of care. Patient safety in primary dental care remains a global priority, yet adherence to clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) is often suboptimal due to time constraints, cognitive load, and limited accessibility of lengthy guideline documents. This study presents the Oral Surgery Risk Assessment (OSRA) digital application, a technology-enhanced clinical decision-support and learning tool designed to operationalise oral surgery guidelines at the point of care. A randomized crossover study (n = 30) compared OSRA with conventional PDF guidelines across usability, workflow efficiency, and perceived clinical impact in a mixed cohort of final-year dental students, postgraduate trainees, and senior clinicians. Results demonstrated significantly higher scores for OSRA across all domains (p < 0.05) with large effect sizes, particularly in efficiency and workflow (r = 0.75). Participants reported reduced cognitive load and improved confidence in clinical reasoning when using the application. Framed within technology-enhanced learning and cognitive support theory, the findings suggest that interactive digital decision-support tools can enhance protocol fluency, guideline adherence, and clinical reasoning, supporting both clinical practice and experiential learning in oral surgery education.