Teledentistry within oral health care providers' training: A scoping review

Abstract

Introduction

Despite teledentistry (TD) ubiquitous utilization, it has yet to be fully adopted by oral health care providers' educational training. This study aimed to explore TD incorporation in the training of oral health care providers.

Methods

This review included studies on the TD content offered to oral health care providers. The JBI (Joanna Briggs Institute) methodology was used, and two reviewers screened the literature. Studies published between 1989 and 4 June 2022 were searched using “Teledentistry” and “Education” as initial keywords. The searched databases included MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EPPI, Scopus, Epistemonikos, ERIC, MedEdPORTAL, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, and Google Scholar. All of the relevant literature, regardless of their language, were added. The data were extracted using an extraction table and are presented in tabular and narrative summary formats.

Results

A total of 2180 documents were found, and 1804 documents were screened by the title and abstract after deduplication; 59 were selected for full-text review; and 19 were eligible for data extraction. Of all studies, 63.15% were published after the COVID-19 pandemic. Practicing TD and TD reimbursement were some of the addressed topics. Didactic education and hands-on practice were the most employed training methods. Self/peer evaluations and surveys were among the employed assessment techniques.

Conclusion

TD education has been emphasized during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a variation in the existing TD educational programmes, from addressing topics to assessment techniques. However, the number of educational programmes on this topic is sparse.