Deshpande Shantanu, Patil Devendra, Dhokar Amol, Bhanushali Parin, Katge Farhin
Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, TPCT's Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
Department of Oral Medicine, Diagnosis and Radiology, TPCT's Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
Int J Telemed Appl. 2021 Feb 16;2021:8859746. doi: 10.1155/2021/8859746. eCollection 2021.
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.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）及其相关的冠状病毒病（COVID-19）近期的传播引发了广泛的公共卫生担忧。尽管为遏制疾病传播付出了巨大努力，但由于这种感染的社区传播模式，病例数仍在上升。为防止社区传播，全国实施了封锁，在此期间，对国内公民的行动施加了许多限制。由于牙科专业人员处于感染的前沿，大多数牙科诊所停止了常规牙科诊疗程序，仅为患者提供急诊治疗。然而，由于行动受限，患者很难前往诊所进行常规检查。技术进步克服了这一难题，技术进步对医学产生了重大影响。由于智能手机及相关软件应用的使用增加，促进了患者与临床医生之间的临床数据交换，这被称为“远程牙科”。远程牙科是电信与牙科的结合，涉及为牙科咨询和治疗计划交换临床信息和图像。这项技术在封锁期间对牙医处理牙科急诊来说可谓是福音。这篇叙述性综述讨论了远程牙科及其在COVID-19封锁期间在一般牙科和专科牙科实践中的应用。
