Tele Dentistry: An Advancement Tool in Dentistry

Abstract

Background: The study documented below was conducted to highlight the accuracy of diagnosing caries in human teeth by examination of the intraoral photographs taken through the smartphone vs standard clinical examination through the dental operating light. Materials and methodology: Study enrolled 100 subjects who belonged to the age-group of 30–50 years for clinical examination of missing teeth, decayed teeth, sound teeth and filled teeth. All of the teeth were examined. In the concerned procedure; Dual 12MP Wide and Ultra-Wide cameras with ƒ/1.8 aperture were used for examination. Also, cameras with ƒ/2.4 aperture, and 120° field of view, and 2× optical zoom out with digital zoom up to 5× were used. The tele screening group was made on WhatsApp (a social media application) in which 6 members were added and images were sent to that group. Results: The kappa score in six subjects was 0.899, 0.916, 0.910, 0.925, 0.925, and 0.901. Conclusion: Digital images from smartphone camera offers a reliable method of screening dental caries. Hence, the smartphone can be used as an adjunctive tool for tele dentistry.

Keywords

• accuracy
• communication
• dental caries
• tele dentistry