Open Collections

Wong, Michael Stephen

University of British Columbia

Purpose: This study aims to understand what knowledge dentists have about teledentistry, the attitudes they had towards teledentistry, if/how they implemented teledentistry in their practices during COVID-19, and if clinicians intend to continue to use teledentistry following the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A 21 item online anonymous survey assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of teledentistry was developed and distributed to dentists in British Columbia between July 18, 2022, to October 24, 2022 through e-mail. Descriptive statistics, bivariate chi-square analysis, and binary logistic regression were performed. Our sample size calculation was 660. P-value was set at p<0.001. Results:. Of the surveys returned, 198 surveys met the inclusion criteria and were included in data analysis. The majority of dentists agreed on the benefits of teledentistry. Just over half (53.6%) of respondents had used a form of teledentistry at the time of survey. Over three quarters (75.8%) of the surveyed dentists had no prior training in teledentistry. Practitioner comfort level was found to be a predictor for future teledentistry use amongst dentists. Conclusion: Respondents in this study were unprepared for the provision of care using teledentistry at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Practitioner comfort level was found to be a determinant for continued use of teledentistry following the pandemic. Education in teledentistry may improve practitioner comfort and improve the widespread implementation of teledentistry in the dental profession.

Text

2023-11-24

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86674

Craniofacial Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/