Teledentistry within oral health care providers' training: A scoping review

INTRODUCTION

Despite teledentistry (TD) ubiquitous utilization, it has yet to be fully adopted by oral health care providers' educational training. This study aimed to explore TD incorporation in the training of oral health care providers.

METHODS

This review included studies on the TD content offered to oral health care providers. The JBI (Joanna Briggs Institute) methodology was used, and two reviewers screened the literature. Studies published between 1989 and 4 June 2022 were searched using "Teledentistry" and "Education" as initial keywords. The searched databases included MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EPPI, Scopus, Epistemonikos, ERIC, MedEdPORTAL, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, and Google Scholar. All of the relevant literature, regardless of their language, were added. The data were extracted using an extraction table and are presented in tabular and narrative summary formats.

RESULTS

A total of 2180 documents were found, and 1804 documents were screened by the title and abstract after deduplication; 59 were selected for full-text review; and 19 were eligible for data extraction. Of all studies, 63.15% were published after the COVID-19 pandemic. Practicing TD and TD reimbursement were some of the addressed topics. Didactic education and hands-on practice were the most employed training methods. Self/peer evaluations and surveys were among the employed assessment techniques.

CONCLUSION

TD education has been emphasized during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a variation in the existing TD educational programmes, from addressing topics to assessment techniques. However, the number of educational programmes on this topic is sparse.

Digital Health in Children’s Oral and Dental Health: An Overview and a Bibliometric Analysis

Digital health technologies can widely increase access to oral health solutions and can make them easier to use and more accessible at all primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. This study aims to present a bibliometric analysis of published literature to identify the content, trends, and context of digital health technology use in children’s oral and dental health. After finalising the research question, the Scopus database was used to search systematically for related keywords from 1997 to 2022. The PRISMA methodology applied for systematic reviews was adopted to refine search results. VOS viewer software was applied to illustrate the topics and trends of digital health technology involved in children’s oral and dental health. An increase in use of the digital technologies was appeared in the index keywords after 2005. Computer-assisted therapy/surgery, computer simulation, computer program, image processing, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging, and audio-visual equipment were more used index keywords in children’s dental care re-search from 2005–2015. Telemedicine, mobile application, virtual reality, and medical information were reported with the index keywords of dental caries, dental procedures, and dental anxiety after 2015. The study also identified a gap in the published literature in applying newer digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and gamification, in oral and dental health research and practice. There is a growing tendency to use digital technologies in children’s oral and dental health in recent years. Although the types and categorisations of the technology are typically diverse during the timeframe and by the area of dental services and oral health, identifying and categorizing these technologies based on oral health services could familiarise oral health policymakers with the application of the technology and help them design technology-based interventions to improve children’s oral health.

Efficacy of a remote screening model for oral potentially malignant disorders using a free messaging application: A diagnostic test for accuracy study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the feasibility of using a remote sensing model as a free messaging application tool in the preventive screening of oral potentially malignant disorders in a rural area of India.

DESIGN

An observational cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Primary care setting in Udupi District, Karnataka, South India.

PARTICIPANTS

One-hundred and thirty-one individuals with a mean (SD) age of 37.34 (11.31) years, of whom 64.1% and 35.9% were men and women, respectively.

INTERVENTIONS

Clinical oral examination followed by photo capture of five areas of the patients' mouth.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Reliability measures for the use of a photo messaging service in diagnosing oral potentially malignant disorders, as compared to the clinical examination.

RESULTS

When lesions were categorised as normal and abnormal, the reliability (kappa) between the diagnoses, based on photo messaging and clinical oral examination, was 0.68 and 0.67 for Examiners 1 and 2, respectively. The sensitivity values for Examiners 1 and 2 were 98.5% and 99.04%, respectively, whereas the specificity was 72% and 64%, respectively. When the agreement between photo messaging and clinical oral examination for an exact diagnostic match was assessed, the reliability (kappa) was 0.59 and 0.55 for Examiners 1 and 2, respectively. The sensitivity values for Examiners 1 and 2 were 98.1% and 98.7%, respectively, whereas the specificity was 64% and 52% respectively.

CONCLUSION

There was a substantial agreement between the diagnosis based on clinical examination and WhatsApp image for both the examiners, when the lesions were dichotomised as normal and abnormal, but slightly reduced when assessed for the exact diagnostic match. Screening for oral potentially malignant disorders using photo messaging can serve as an effective adjunct and a potential cost-effective tool in a low-resource setting.

Teledentistry: a key component in access to care

Teledentistry has the potential to address the oral care needs of those who have limited access to care. More research is needed to establish the evidence base to support teledentistry practice.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Enormous potential exists to improve oral health services throughout the world by using information and communication technologies, such as teledentistry to expand access to primary, secondary and tertiary care. Comparison of teledentistry procedures with standard clinical procedures can demonstrate the relative effectiveness and cost of each approach. However, due to insufficient evidence, it is unclear how these strategies compare for improving and maintaining oral health, quality of life, and reducing health care costs. This review discusses the merits of teledentistry for the delivery of oral care.

METHODS

This article summarizes the available literature related to the efficacy and effectiveness of teledentistry and presents possible barriers to its broader adoption.

CONCLUSIONS

Teledentistry seems to be a promising path for providing oral health services where there is a shortage of oral health care providers.

Use of videoconferencing for consultation in dental prosthetics and oral rehabilitation

We conducted a 13-month study to investigate whether videoconferencing could be used for diagnosis and for making treatment plans for patients requiring prosthetic or oral rehabilitation treatment. The consultations took place between a specialist dental treatment unit in a central hospital and general dental practitioners in seven regional health centres. Videoconferencing was conducted using standard commercial units via an IP network, at bandwiths of 762 kbit/s – 2 Mbit/s. In total, 24 patients and 25 professionals (18 dentists, 2 dental hygienists and 5 nurses) took part. There were no technical problems. In 24 out of 27 teleconsultations, a diagnosis or treatment plan could be made. All participating dentists were satisfied with the consultation process and indicated that the technology used was of sufficient quality for clinical purposes. A patient satisfaction questionnaire indicated that patients were also satisfied. Videoconsultation in dentistry has the potential to increase the total number of dental specialist services in sparsely populated areas, such as those in Finland.