The changes you referenced above were incorporated in the current version which also retains the smileys. See the documentation here:
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Dragmath
For anyone using 1.8.4+ this is a simple install and everything should work without any changes. For any version using the adminlib.php present in 1.8.2 and earlier, do the same install but do not use the copy of adminlib.php included in the zip.
One benefit of using the new package is that it includes the most recent version of dragmath which includes options for using asciimathml text expressions (blazingly fast conversion from a simple text expression - asciimathml or latex - to presentation MathML for display) and filters instead of LaTex and the ability to insert the expressions with and without filter tokens. So, if you tend to use the quadratic formula or a specific integration commonly yu can save that as a dgrm file and then insert once in your text with token to have it parsed, and to show the text expression you employed, if that is an issue, insert again without the tokens.
Tip o' the hat to John and everyone else who worked on this.....
If you subscribe to the html editor forum you will note that there are quite a few folks working on the next generation html editor and they are looking for folks who will test these with Dragmath and Equation Editor.