Teledentistry: A Boon Amidst COVID-19 Lockdown—A Narrative Review

Abstract

The recent spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its associated coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused widespread public health concerns. Despite huge efforts to contain the disease spread, it is still on the rise because of the community spread pattern of this infection. In order to prevent the community spread, a nationwide lockdown was implemented, due to which many restrictions were imposed on movements of citizens within the country. Since the dental professionals were at the forefront of acquiring the infection, the majority of the dental clinics were shut for routine dental procedures. Only emergency treatment was provided to the patients. However, due to restrictions in movement, it was difficult for the patients to visit the clinics for routine check-ups. This was overcome by the advancements in technology which has a major impact on medicine. Due to increased usage of smartphones and related software applications, the clinical data exchange was facilitated between patients and clinicians which has been termed as “teledentistry.” Teledentistry is a combination of telecommunications and dentistry, involving the exchange of clinical information and images for dental consultation and treatment planning. This technology served as a boon for the dentists to manage dental emergencies during the lockdown period. This narrative review discusses teledentistry and its applications in general and specialty dental practice amidst the COVID-19 lockdown.

Teledentistry—Knowledge, Practice, and Attitudes of Dental Practitioners in Saudi Arabia: A Nationwide Web-Based Survey

“…Teledentistry (TD) has emerged as an important communication tool in dental practice [ 1 ]. It involves remote communication between dentists and patients using information technology means such as smartphones, Internet, video calls, and social media channels [ 1 , 2 ]. Hence, dental practitioners (DPs) can provide dental advice, make provisional diagnosis, and educate their patients over a distance [ 1 , 2 , 3 ].…”

“…It involves remote communication between dentists and patients using information technology means such as smartphones, Internet, video calls, and social media channels [ 1 , 2 ]. Hence, dental practitioners (DPs) can provide dental advice, make provisional diagnosis, and educate their patients over a distance [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. TD has been applied in different disciplines of dentistry, including but not limited to, preventive dentistry, endodontics, orthodontics, and oral medicine settings, with promising outcomes [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”

“…Hence, dental practitioners (DPs) can provide dental advice, make provisional diagnosis, and educate their patients over a distance [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. TD has been applied in different disciplines of dentistry, including but not limited to, preventive dentistry, endodontics, orthodontics, and oral medicine settings, with promising outcomes [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 studies found that TD was a very effective means for oral health improvement in terms of prevention and promotion [ 7 ].…”

Decreased Global Interest in Oral Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Challenges in early diagnosis (Chumpitaz-Cerrate et al, 2021), economic consequences (Coulthard et al, 2020a;Coulthard et al, 2020b), and treatment delay (Varela-Centelles et al, 2021) could alter the health-seeking behavior of a population during the pandemic. Teledentistry could also decrease the RSV of oral cancer by changing the information source of the population from GT to dental healthcare professionals (Deshpande et al, 2021). The inherent comorbidities and under prioritization of cancer, in favor of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, render patients with cancer at-risk for the virus.…”

La teleodontología como alternativa de atención durante la pandemia por COVID-19

“…La teleodontología ha permitido resolver virtualmente muchos problemas de salud bucal manejando algunas situaciones odontológicas sin que el paciente acuda al servicio de salud, sin embargo, debe tenerse en cuenta que no está libre de errores e involucra cuestiones ético-legales que merecen atención para mejorarla 25,26 . Hasta la fecha, en los programas de odontología de pregrado y posgrado no existe una educación formal sobre teleodontología.…”