TELEDENTISTRY: AN OVERVIEW ON ACTUAL DIFFUSION AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS IN DENTAL CARE

Section of Dentistry, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy Aim: this narrative review aims to investigate the possible applications and the potential future developments of teledentistry (TD). Methods: an electronical search focused on the keyword “teledentistry” was performed on the MEDLINE (PubMed). The search was limited to clinical trials (CT) and randomized clinical trials (RCT) published in English, without time limitation. Results: nine studies were included. Four of them were RCT, while 5 were prospective observational studies. Five papers evaluated the use of TD for orthodontic purposes (2 RCT and 3 observational studies), while 3 studies (2 RCT and 1 observational study) analyzed its efficacy in early caries diagnosis in children. Finally, one study investigated the utility of TD as screening method in an inmate population. When used for orthodontic purposes, TD resulted to be a beneficial time-saving approach both for patients and specialists, improving domiciliary oral hygiene motivation and reducing inappropriate orthodontic referrals. TD was also considered a useful dental caries screening method for children living in rural areas, while no benefits were found when compared to face-to-face visitation in non-rural areas. Finally, TD appears to ease the first consultation on entry into detention and the organization of dental care. Conclusions: teledentistry appears to be a useful complementary tool both for clinicians and patients, improving interprofessional communication, easing oral health care access and screening procedures. Future developments may include the prevention of periodontal and peri-implant diseases.