17 October 2023

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Telephone-assisted dentistry

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When a tall and lanky gentleman, of a crazy nature, decided that the telephone should be a part of us and that, as such, it could serve to give a personal vision of the world, through photography, it was a miracle. In fact, snooping around the internet, numerous precursors had, in various forms, incorporated numerous functions into the portable telephone that did not belong to the telephone. Steve Jobs' supreme synthesis, however, aroused worldwide amazement.

Reasoning in paradoxes, with that means, but not only with that, teleworking began and with it telemedicine and teledentistry.

The first is my mother-in-law's nightmare; every two by three a little voice appears after a trill and says: "You're not taking the right medicine... you rascal”!

Remaining in our field, some dentists have been using telephone-assisted dentistry for some time, attributing numerous advantages to it. To codify a state of the art in this regard, the American Dental Association, which will go into more detail on the research in the next few days, has had its members fill out a questionnaire regarding the percentage of use and methods of use for this new area of the dental service. In fact, only 30% used teledentistry in their practices, with more than half of those using it either synchronously (53%) or asynchronously (63%). The most common reasons for incorporating this device into clinical practice were greater convenience for patients (53%), the possible presence of COVID-19 (50%) and easier accessibility (39%); on this last point it will be good to remember that in the United States certain movements, in some states, are far from easy.

Most users have adopted teledentistry within the last 3 years and use it less than 5 hours per month.

Thus, as demonstrated by further studies in recent years, dangerous lesions of the oral mucosa were intercepted in time; the cavities themselves can be diagnosed with reasonable accuracy, directing the clinician to formulate a more relevant appointment time.

There is no doubt that monitoring the therapies carried out on certain periodontal pathologies can be a summary, but effective, control method. Not to mention orthodontics in many of its facets and aesthetics.

There is therefore a need for... training on the capabilities and advantages of teledentistry, so as not to end up burdened with phone calls or overwhelmed by teleconferences called by anxious and anxiety-provoking patients.