Mola Müge Erbay, Çoğulu Dilşah, Eden Ece, Topaloğlu Aslı
Private Dentist, Manisa, Turkey.
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Ege University, İzmir, Turkey.
Int J Paediatr Dent. 2025 Jul;35(4):783-791. doi: 10.1111/ipd.13290. Epub 2024 Dec 25.
Teledentistry integrates telecommunications with dental practice, facilitating the exchange of clinical information and images for remote dental consultation and treatment planning. This approach enables dental care access across long distances, addressing the need for flexible healthcare solutions.
This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of teledentistry compared to clinical in-person dental diagnosis in pediatric patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study sample consisted of 200 children aged 3-13 years, each undergoing both teledentistry-based and in-person clinical dental diagnosis. Caries index scores, including DMFT/dmft and DMFS/dmfs, as well as the identification of specific dental conditions such as molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH), black tooth staining, periodontal disease, dental trauma, and orthodontic anomalies, were recorded in both diagnostic settings. Statistical analysis was conducted using chi-square, Wilcoxon, and Fisher's Exact tests.
The mean age of participants was 7.86 ± 2.40 years. Caries index scores (DMFT/dmft, DMFS/dmfs) showed compatibility between teledentistry and clinical diagnoses. While "d/D, f/F, ds/DS, fs/FS" scores were observed to be higher in clinical diagnoses compared to teledentistry, the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Scores for "m/M" and "ms/MS" were identical in both diagnostic methods. Additionally, the prevalence of dental anomalies, including MIH, black tooth staining, periodontal disease, dental trauma, and orthodontic anomalies, was comparable across both diagnostic approaches.
Findings suggest that teledentistry serves as an effective alternative to clinical in-person diagnosis for pediatric dental consultations and treatment planning, demonstrating comparable accuracy in identifying caries and dental anomalies in children.
远程牙科将电信技术与牙科实践相结合，促进临床信息和图像的交换，以进行远程牙科咨询和治疗规划。这种方法能够实现远距离的牙科护理，满足对灵活医疗解决方案的需求。
本研究旨在评估在新冠疫情期间，与临床面对面牙科诊断相比，远程牙科对儿科患者的有效性。
研究样本包括200名3至13岁的儿童，每名儿童都接受了基于远程牙科和面对面的临床牙科诊断。记录了龋病指数评分，包括DMFT/dmft和DMFS/dmfs，以及在两种诊断环境中对特定牙科疾病的识别，如磨牙切牙矿化不全（MIH）、牙齿染色、牙周疾病、牙外伤和正畸异常。使用卡方检验、威尔科克森检验和费舍尔精确检验进行统计分析。
参与者的平均年龄为7.86±2.40岁。龋病指数评分（DMFT/dmft，DMFS/dmfs）显示远程牙科和临床诊断之间具有一致性。虽然观察到临床诊断中的“d/D、f/F、ds/DS、fs/FS”评分高于远程牙科，但差异无统计学意义（p>0.05）。两种诊断方法中“m/M”和“ms/MS”的评分相同。此外，在两种诊断方法中，包括MIH、牙齿染色、牙周疾病、牙外伤和正畸异常在内的牙科异常患病率相当。
研究结果表明，远程牙科可作为儿科牙科咨询和治疗规划中临床面对面诊断的有效替代方法，在识别儿童龋齿和牙科异常方面具有相当的准确性。
