Dental Care Access and the Elderly: What Is the Role of Teledentistry? A Systematic Review

Abstract

A high level of unmet oral health needs is very common among elderly people. In a society that is getting older and that has been hit so hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the development of new strategies aimed at enhancing general and oral health status should be crucial in order to promote healthy aging. The aim of this systematic review is to assess the feasibility of Teledentistry in communities or in a domiciliary setting where elderly people live. A structured and systematic research was performed on the major electronic databases for studies published in English until 30 June 2020: the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, and CINAHL databases. A total of 13 articles were identified through database searching using combinations of keywords. Out of 13 papers, eight abstracts were reviewed to assess if they were coherent with the aim of the study, and full texts were retrieved. After abstract reviews, seven articles were selected for closer inspection. Of these, six were assessed for eligibility. Four papers were aimed at assessing patients and health practitioners experiences about Teledentistry, three studies reported a cost analysis and cost description of Teledentistry in residential aged care facilities, and two studies investigated the feasibility and accuracy of Teledentistry for diagnosis dental pathology. The implementation of Teledentistry in residential aged care facilities and in home-assistance programs could be a viable tool for the management of oral care in people who cannot access dental care.

Teledentistry and mHealth for Promotion and Prevention of Oral Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…Thus, it is less clear whether similar treatment effects can be observed when these platforms are used with adults and elders. Although a recent systematic review found that the implementation of teledentistry in residential aged care facilities and home assistance programs appears to be a viable tool for that population (Aquilanti et al 2020), further research about its effectiveness should include the growing elderly population. New evidence will allow clinicians and policy makers to more widely define the role that these technologies can play when applied at a population level, regardless of age.…”

The impact of COVID-19 on access to dental care for people with disabilities: a global survey during the COVID-19 first wave lockdown

“…Teledentistry is a seemingly cost effective means of overcoming barriers due to geographic distance between patients and particularly specialist care providers, who usually condense in large urban areas. This approach also surmounts barriers surrounding transportation and related out of pocket and opportunity cost, while offering accurate diagnosis and opportunity for definitive or intermediate management of many orofacial conditions across an expanded network of care providers (26)(27)(28)(29). Although teledentistry does not and cannot replace clinical intervention, particularly in situations where a tooth needs to be opened or an abscess drained, it is invaluable in facilitating communication with specialist healthcare providers and subsequent access to appropriate care that takes into account the patient's special circumstances and needs.…”

Assistência odontológica para idosos durante a pandemia da COVID-19: Uma perspectiva brasileira

“…Although our study was the first conducted with elderly population on the pandemic dental assistance needs, the scenario reflects elderlies' fear about the disease's consequences. A useful and recent alternative to minimize unnecessary travels and provide oral health care to the elderly has been teledentistry, a novel way to contact patients using technology and telecommunications (Aquilanti et al, 2020). Urgent dental procedures were the primary treatment during the pandemic.…”

“…Painel CONASS COVID-19, 2020). Thus, the use of teledentistry to treat urgent and nonurgent dental assistance, may be advantageous for institutionalized and community-dwelling elderly (Aquilanti et al, 2020;Bhanushali et al, 2020) during pandemic periods.…”