Tella A J, Olanloye O M, Ibiyemi O
Dental Centre, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Department of Periodontology and Community Dentistry, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Ann Ib Postgrad Med. 2019 Dec;17(2):115-123.
In developing countries, access to qualified medical personnel especially oral health care specialists by inhabitants of rural and remote areas remain a challenge due to the fact that these personnel are mostly located in urban communities. Teledentistry is an approach that will eliminate the problem of distance between qualified oral health care personnel and potential patients in rural and remote communities. The objective of this review is to investigate the history of teledentistry and its practical application in overcoming the rural-urban oral health care problems. A scoping search of literature using keywords associated with telemedicine and teledentistry and its application was undertaken via PubMed and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO). Literature published in English in the last 10 years (2008 - 2018) were selected. The review summarises the available literature related to origin and method of delivering teledentistry and its use in dental practice and education. It shows that teledentistry has the ability to improve access to and delivery of oral health care at a relatively lower cost as well as supplementing traditional teaching methods in dental education. However, despite the promising nature of teledentistry in improving oral health care provision, it is associated with some attending problems and challenges.
在发展中国家，农村和偏远地区居民获得合格医疗人员尤其是口腔保健专家的服务仍然是一项挑战，因为这些人员大多集中在城市社区。远程牙科是一种能够消除合格口腔保健人员与农村和偏远社区潜在患者之间距离问题的方法。本综述的目的是调查远程牙科的历史及其在克服城乡口腔保健问题方面的实际应用。通过PubMed和科学电子图书馆在线数据库（SciELO），使用与远程医疗、远程牙科及其应用相关的关键词对文献进行了范围检索。选取了过去10年（2008 - 2018年）以英文发表的文献。该综述总结了与远程牙科的起源、提供方式及其在牙科实践和教育中的应用相关的现有文献。结果表明，远程牙科有能力以相对较低的成本改善口腔保健服务的可及性和提供情况，并补充牙科教育中的传统教学方法。然而，尽管远程牙科在改善口腔保健服务方面前景光明，但它也伴随着一些相关问题和挑战。
