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Role of Newly Introduced Teledentistry Service in the Management of Dental Emergencies During COVID-19 Pandemic in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

INTRODUCTION: The lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic rendered teledentistry (TD) necessary to maintain the continuity of oral health services and avoid missing emergency dental conditions, while minimizing face-to-face visits. Our objective was to evaluate the ability of a newly introduced tr...

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Autores principales: Ali, Shaymaa Abdulreda, Al-Qahtani, Abdul Mueen A., Al Banai, Suhayla R., Albaker, Fatima J., Almarri, Alanoud E., Al-Haithami, Khalid, Khandakji, Mohannad N., El Ansari, Walid
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9700353/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35333637
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2021.0584
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author Ali, Shaymaa Abdulreda
Al-Qahtani, Abdul Mueen A.
Al Banai, Suhayla R.
Albaker, Fatima J.
Almarri, Alanoud E.
Al-Haithami, Khalid
Khandakji, Mohannad N.
El Ansari, Walid
author_facet Ali, Shaymaa Abdulreda
Al-Qahtani, Abdul Mueen A.
Al Banai, Suhayla R.
Albaker, Fatima J.
Almarri, Alanoud E.
Al-Haithami, Khalid
Khandakji, Mohannad N.
El Ansari, Walid
author_sort Ali, Shaymaa Abdulreda
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: The lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic rendered teledentistry (TD) necessary to maintain the continuity of oral health services and avoid missing emergency dental conditions, while minimizing face-to-face visits. Our objective was to evaluate the ability of a newly introduced triage-based TD service to deliver its goals, by evaluating its processes and outcomes and assessing the demand for TD. METHODS: This cross-sectional report assessed the triage processes and outcomes (triage category, referral to emergency/dental facility undertaken, remote medications prescribed, and procedures performed at the point of referral); and evaluated the demand for the newly introduced TD service during 5 months of the first wave of the pandemic. RESULTS: Of 850 calls, about 70.6% of the samples were managed remotely; 29.4% were categorized as emergency/urgent and referred to the emergency/dental facility. Compared with other complaints, orofacial dental pain was the most common reason for the calls (41.6%, p < 0.0001). About 14.71% of callers received prescription for medications remotely. The most demanded disciplines were general dentistry, orthodontics, and oral surgery, respectively (p < 0.0001). Of those referred to a dental facility, 31.84% required no clinical intervention, 28.7% received orthodontic appliance repair, and 14.3% and 11.2% had urgent dental extractions or root canal treatments. Demand on the service fluctuated through various distinct stages of the lockdown. CONCLUSIONS: There has been continuous demand for the newly introduced TD service throughout the period of the current report despite the fluctuations, with most complaints managed remotely. TD was effective and suitable for triage, service delivery, and care during the pandemic.
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spelling pubmed-97003532022-11-30 Role of Newly Introduced Teledentistry Service in the Management of Dental Emergencies During COVID-19 Pandemic in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Ali, Shaymaa Abdulreda Al-Qahtani, Abdul Mueen A. Al Banai, Suhayla R. Albaker, Fatima J. Almarri, Alanoud E. Al-Haithami, Khalid Khandakji, Mohannad N. El Ansari, Walid Telemed J E Health Original Research INTRODUCTION: The lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic rendered teledentistry (TD) necessary to maintain the continuity of oral health services and avoid missing emergency dental conditions, while minimizing face-to-face visits. Our objective was to evaluate the ability of a newly introduced triage-based TD service to deliver its goals, by evaluating its processes and outcomes and assessing the demand for TD. METHODS: This cross-sectional report assessed the triage processes and outcomes (triage category, referral to emergency/dental facility undertaken, remote medications prescribed, and procedures performed at the point of referral); and evaluated the demand for the newly introduced TD service during 5 months of the first wave of the pandemic. RESULTS: Of 850 calls, about 70.6% of the samples were managed remotely; 29.4% were categorized as emergency/urgent and referred to the emergency/dental facility. Compared with other complaints, orofacial dental pain was the most common reason for the calls (41.6%, p < 0.0001). About 14.71% of callers received prescription for medications remotely. The most demanded disciplines were general dentistry, orthodontics, and oral surgery, respectively (p < 0.0001). Of those referred to a dental facility, 31.84% required no clinical intervention, 28.7% received orthodontic appliance repair, and 14.3% and 11.2% had urgent dental extractions or root canal treatments. Demand on the service fluctuated through various distinct stages of the lockdown. CONCLUSIONS: There has been continuous demand for the newly introduced TD service throughout the period of the current report despite the fluctuations, with most complaints managed remotely. TD was effective and suitable for triage, service delivery, and care during the pandemic. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2022-11-01 2022-11-02 /pmc/articles/PMC9700353/ /pubmed/35333637 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2021.0584 Text en © Shaymaa Abdulreda Ali et al. 2022; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License [CC-BY] (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Ali, Shaymaa Abdulreda
Al-Qahtani, Abdul Mueen A.
Al Banai, Suhayla R.
Albaker, Fatima J.
Almarri, Alanoud E.
Al-Haithami, Khalid
Khandakji, Mohannad N.
El Ansari, Walid
Role of Newly Introduced Teledentistry Service in the Management of Dental Emergencies During COVID-19 Pandemic in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
title Role of Newly Introduced Teledentistry Service in the Management of Dental Emergencies During COVID-19 Pandemic in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
title_full Role of Newly Introduced Teledentistry Service in the Management of Dental Emergencies During COVID-19 Pandemic in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
title_fullStr Role of Newly Introduced Teledentistry Service in the Management of Dental Emergencies During COVID-19 Pandemic in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Role of Newly Introduced Teledentistry Service in the Management of Dental Emergencies During COVID-19 Pandemic in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
title_short Role of Newly Introduced Teledentistry Service in the Management of Dental Emergencies During COVID-19 Pandemic in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
title_sort role of newly introduced teledentistry service in the management of dental emergencies during covid-19 pandemic in qatar: a cross-sectional analysis
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9700353/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35333637
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2021.0584
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