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The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of conducting remote new patient consultations using teleorthodontics. Part 1 of the study used a five-point Likert-scale patient questionnaire and Part 2 comprised an orthodontist service evaluation assessing: (1) ease of use; (2) effectiveness; (3) reliability; (4) patient satisfaction; and (5) orthodontist satisfaction and outcome. The results for Part 1 showed that overall, 99% of patients reported that the system was easy to use, while 98% felt that it met their needs and 91% would choose to consult with a healthcare professional in a remote consultation in the future. For Part 2, 87% of orthodontists reported the remote consultation system worked well. Orthodontists were unable to identify the IOTN in 11% of cases and 11% required a further face-to-face appointment for imaging or clinical examination. In conclusion, teleorthodontics has the potential to augment traditional clinical services, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond. An overwhelmingly positive response towards teleorthodontics was obtained from patient and specialist orthodontist stakeholders.
CPD/Clinical Relevance: The teleorthodontic system demonstrates improved patient and orthodontist acceptance and feasibility and can deliver good outcomes.
Article
Teleorthodontics is a broad term that encompasses remote provision of orthodontic care, advice, or treatment via information technology rather than a conventional face-to-face consultation (FTFC).1 As a concept, it is something that may have been previously considered as a fledgling idea in orthodontics. With the imperative to reduce FTFCs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the prospect of using information technology and connectivity to replace traditional face-to-face appointments with remote consultations (RCs) was thrust into the limelight.
Until very recently, examples of teleorthodontics in the literature were scarce but included some examples of orthodontic specialists or consultants engaging with general dental practitioners (GDPs) in order to facilitate treatment remotely in order to make specialist advice more accessible.2,3,4,5
More recently with the burgeoning increase of clear aligner therapy, and as the development, ease of use and accessibility of technology has grown exponentially, there has been growing interest in how the remote monitoring of appliances may improve patient convenience, whilst reducing chairside clinical time, such as through the use of applications such as Dental Monitoring (https://dental-monitoring.com).1
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