The role of telemedicine for symptoms management in oral medicine: a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has had devastating effect on access to care in many specialties and dental services including oral medicine. Following the shelter‐in‐place orders in March 2020, we implemented Tele(oral)medicine practices for the diagnosis and management of some oral medicine conditions. OBJECTIVES: To assess the role of telemedicine visits with respect to managing pain among patients affected by oral diseases. METHODS: A retrospective chart review for all the new patients seen at their first visit via telemedicine between April 2020 and December 2020. The patient-reported pain score was recorded at each visit using a 0–10 scale. Differences in oral pain from the first fist to the follow-up visit of the patients were evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS: A total of 137 new patients were included with a median age of 56 years. If seen in person, patients would have travelled a median distance of 65 miles. The most common oral conditions seen were reactive/inflammatory lesions. There was a 3-point median pain reduction from the first video visit to the first follow-up (p < 0.05) and a self-reported 65% median improvement of oral symptoms. CONCLUSION: Tele(oral)medicine was an effective method for symptoms management of oral medicine conditions.