Sakr Lobna, Abbas Hala, Thabet Nahwand, Abdelgawad Fatma
Military Medical Academy, Cairo, Egypt.
Pediatric Dentistry & Dental Public Health Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
BMC Oral Health. 2025 Apr 11;25(1):545. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-05802-z.
Teledentistry offers an effective, cost-efficient solution for caries detection in school children, improving access to early diagnosis and preventive care in underserved areas. Through remote imaging, it enables timely assessments without in-person visits, helping bridge healthcare gaps and enhance children's oral health outcomes.
Three examiners participated in this study, examiner 1 (E1) clinically examined the children then examined the clinical photos, examiner 2 (E2) examined the photos only, and examiner 3 (E3) took the clinical photos at school without participating in clinical examination. Sample size consisted of 141 school-going children from primary one to primary six grades. They were examined clinically by E1 using deft/DMFT indices, then clinical photos were taken for both arches from occlusal view. Occlusal surface photos were only included in the analysis. These photos were examined by E1 and E2 after a 48-h wash-out period and the same indices were measured and calibrated.
There was a strong agreement between clinical and photo diagnosis for E1 (kw = 0.899, p < 0.001), clinical and photo diagnosis for E2 (kw = 0.834, p < 0.001), and image diagnoses (E1) and (E2) (kw = 0.898, p < 0.001). The internal consistency between clinical and photo diagnoses (E2) was acceptable 0.790 (0.706:0.85). For other scores, the internal consistency between all variables was excellent (α > 0.9).
Teledentistry provides accurate and reliable results. It is a valuable tool for school-screening programs without dental radiographs.
It was retrospectively registered on clinical trial.gov on 25/10/2024 with an identifier NCT06661837.
远程牙科为学龄儿童的龋齿检测提供了一种有效且具有成本效益的解决方案，改善了在服务不足地区获得早期诊断和预防保健的机会。通过远程成像，它能够在无需亲自就诊的情况下进行及时评估，有助于弥合医疗差距并改善儿童的口腔健康状况。
三名检查人员参与了本研究，检查人员1（E1）先对儿童进行临床检查，然后检查临床照片；检查人员2（E2）仅检查照片；检查人员3（E3）在学校拍摄临床照片但不参与临床检查。样本量包括141名从一年级到六年级的在校儿童。E1使用乳牙龋失补牙面指数（deft/DMFT）对他们进行临床检查，然后从咬合面拍摄上下牙弓的临床照片。仅将咬合面照片纳入分析。在48小时的洗脱期后，E1和E2对这些照片进行检查，并测量和校准相同的指数。
E1的临床诊断与照片诊断之间有很强的一致性（肯德尔一致性系数kw = 0.899，p < 0.001），E2的临床诊断与照片诊断之间有很强的一致性（kw = 0.834，p < 0.001），以及E1和E2的图像诊断之间有很强的一致性（kw = 0.898，p < 0.001）。临床诊断与照片诊断（E2）之间的内部一致性可接受，为0.790（0.706:0.85）。对于其他评分，所有变量之间的内部一致性都非常好（α > 0.9）。
远程牙科提供准确可靠的结果。它是用于无牙科X光片的学校筛查项目的宝贵工具。
于2024年10月25日在clinicaltrial.gov上进行回顾性注册，标识符为NCT0666837。
