Telehealth and dental specialties during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Dentistry involves very close contact with the patients while providing oral health care. During pandemics like COVID-19, teledentistry has enabled the oral health-care providers to incorporate telecommunication in dentistry to exchange clinical information and allow remote distance virtual consultations. The COVID-19 like pandemics is one of the reasons for inequities in oral health care. The use of technology and telecommunication can be used to bridge these inequities. This article reviews the challenges faced by oral health-care providers and patients, especially with intellectual and developmental disabilities during COVID-19 like pandemic. This article also reviews the utilization of teledentistry by different dental specialties, along with the current evidence that exists in the literature. In response to this crisis, we believe that teledentistry offers a promising uninterrupted oral health care and enhances the quality of care by improving the access, profession education, and patient satisfaction.

Keywords

• covid 19
• teledentistry
• telehealth