Teledentistry from research to practice: a tale of nineteen countries
AimThe COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated teledentistry research with great interest reflected in the increasing number of publications. In many countries, teledentistry programs were established although not much is known about the extent of incorporating teledentistry into practice and healthcare s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Oral Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/froh.2023.1188557/full |
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| author | Maha El Tantawi Walter Yu Hang Lam Nicolas Giraudeau Jorma I. Virtanen Cleopatra Matanhire Timothy Chifamba Wael Sabbah Noha Gomaa Sadeq Ali Al-Maweri Sergio E. Uribe Sergio E. Uribe Sergio E. Uribe Simin Z. Mohebbi Noren Hasmun Guangzhao Guan Ajith Polonowita Sadika Begum Khan Massimo Pisano Passent Ellakany Marwa Mohamed Baraka Abdalmawla Alhussin Ali José Eduardo Orellana Centeno Verica Pavlic Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan |
| author_facet | Maha El Tantawi Walter Yu Hang Lam Nicolas Giraudeau Jorma I. Virtanen Cleopatra Matanhire Timothy Chifamba Wael Sabbah Noha Gomaa Sadeq Ali Al-Maweri Sergio E. Uribe Sergio E. Uribe Sergio E. Uribe Simin Z. Mohebbi Noren Hasmun Guangzhao Guan Ajith Polonowita Sadika Begum Khan Massimo Pisano Passent Ellakany Marwa Mohamed Baraka Abdalmawla Alhussin Ali José Eduardo Orellana Centeno Verica Pavlic Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan |
| author_sort | Maha El Tantawi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | AimThe COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated teledentistry research with great interest reflected in the increasing number of publications. In many countries, teledentistry programs were established although not much is known about the extent of incorporating teledentistry into practice and healthcare systems. This study aimed to report on policies and strategies related to teledentistry practice as well as barriers and facilitators for this implementation in 19 countries.MethodsData were presented per country about information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, income level, policies for health information system (HIS), eHealth and telemedicine. Researchers were selected based on their previous publications in teledentistry and were invited to report on the situation in their respective countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Hong Kong SAR, Iran, Italy, Libya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe.ResultsTen (52.6%) countries were high income, 11 (57.9%) had eHealth policies, 7 (36.8%) had HIS policies and 5 (26.3%) had telehealth policies. Six (31.6%) countries had policies or strategies for teledentistry and no teledentistry programs were reported in two countries. Teledentistry programs were incorporated into the healthcare systems at national (n = 5), intermediate (provincial) (n = 4) and local (n = 8) levels. These programs were established in three countries, piloted in 5 countries and informal in 9 countries.ConclusionDespite the growth in teledentistry research during the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of teledentistry in daily clinical practice is still limited in most countries. Few countries have instituted teledentistry programs at national level. Laws, funding schemes and training are needed to support the incorporation of teledentistry into healthcare systems to institutionalize the practice of teledentistry. Mapping teledentistry practices in other countries and extending services to under-covered populations increases the benefit of teledentistry. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:13:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d4c7c2a3d60e4a8a8cfe63a9a8fc9124 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-4842 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:13:29Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Oral Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-d4c7c2a3d60e4a8a8cfe63a9a8fc91242023-06-16T05:08:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Oral Health2673-48422023-06-01410.3389/froh.2023.11885571188557Teledentistry from research to practice: a tale of nineteen countriesMaha El Tantawi0Walter Yu Hang Lam1Nicolas Giraudeau2Jorma I. Virtanen3Cleopatra Matanhire4Timothy Chifamba5Wael Sabbah6Noha Gomaa7Sadeq Ali Al-Maweri8Sergio E. Uribe9Sergio E. Uribe10Sergio E. Uribe11Simin Z. Mohebbi12Noren Hasmun13Guangzhao Guan14Ajith Polonowita15Sadika Begum Khan16Massimo Pisano17Passent Ellakany18Marwa Mohamed Baraka19Abdalmawla Alhussin Ali20José Eduardo Orellana Centeno21Verica Pavlic22Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan23Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria, EgyptProsthodontics, Restorative Dental Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaCEPEL, CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, FranceInstitute of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, FinlandDepartment of Oral Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, ZimbabweDepartment of Oral Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, ZimbabweCentre for Host Microbiome Interactions, King’s College London, London, United KingdomSchulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, CanadaDepartment of Pre-Clinical Oral Health Sciences, College of Dental Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, QatarDepartment of Conservative Dentistry and Oral Health, Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia0School of Dentistry, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile1Baltic Biomaterials Centre of Excellence, Headquarters at Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia2Research Center for Caries Prevention, Dentistry Research Institute, and Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran3Department of Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand3Department of Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand3Department of Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand4Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa5Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy6Department of Substitutive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt7Orthodontics Department, Dental Faculty, Sirte University, Sirte, Libya8Faculty of Dentistry, Public Health Research Institute, University of Sierra Sur, Oaxaca, México9Department of Periodontology and Oral Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina0Department of Child Dental Health, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, NigeriaAimThe COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated teledentistry research with great interest reflected in the increasing number of publications. In many countries, teledentistry programs were established although not much is known about the extent of incorporating teledentistry into practice and healthcare systems. This study aimed to report on policies and strategies related to teledentistry practice as well as barriers and facilitators for this implementation in 19 countries.MethodsData were presented per country about information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, income level, policies for health information system (HIS), eHealth and telemedicine. Researchers were selected based on their previous publications in teledentistry and were invited to report on the situation in their respective countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Hong Kong SAR, Iran, Italy, Libya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe.ResultsTen (52.6%) countries were high income, 11 (57.9%) had eHealth policies, 7 (36.8%) had HIS policies and 5 (26.3%) had telehealth policies. Six (31.6%) countries had policies or strategies for teledentistry and no teledentistry programs were reported in two countries. Teledentistry programs were incorporated into the healthcare systems at national (n = 5), intermediate (provincial) (n = 4) and local (n = 8) levels. These programs were established in three countries, piloted in 5 countries and informal in 9 countries.ConclusionDespite the growth in teledentistry research during the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of teledentistry in daily clinical practice is still limited in most countries. Few countries have instituted teledentistry programs at national level. Laws, funding schemes and training are needed to support the incorporation of teledentistry into healthcare systems to institutionalize the practice of teledentistry. Mapping teledentistry practices in other countries and extending services to under-covered populations increases the benefit of teledentistry.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/froh.2023.1188557/fullteledentistryglobal oral healthoral health policiesCOVID-19healthcare system |
| spellingShingle | Maha El Tantawi Walter Yu Hang Lam Nicolas Giraudeau Jorma I. Virtanen Cleopatra Matanhire Timothy Chifamba Wael Sabbah Noha Gomaa Sadeq Ali Al-Maweri Sergio E. Uribe Sergio E. Uribe Sergio E. Uribe Simin Z. Mohebbi Noren Hasmun Guangzhao Guan Ajith Polonowita Sadika Begum Khan Massimo Pisano Passent Ellakany Marwa Mohamed Baraka Abdalmawla Alhussin Ali José Eduardo Orellana Centeno Verica Pavlic Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan Teledentistry from research to practice: a tale of nineteen countries Frontiers in Oral Health teledentistry global oral health oral health policies COVID-19 healthcare system |
| title | Teledentistry from research to practice: a tale of nineteen countries |
| title_full | Teledentistry from research to practice: a tale of nineteen countries |
| title_fullStr | Teledentistry from research to practice: a tale of nineteen countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Teledentistry from research to practice: a tale of nineteen countries |
| title_short | Teledentistry from research to practice: a tale of nineteen countries |
| title_sort | teledentistry from research to practice a tale of nineteen countries |
| topic | teledentistry global oral health oral health policies COVID-19 healthcare system |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/froh.2023.1188557/full |
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