Teledentistry in pediatric dental care: a literature review

Abstract

Introduction: Teledentistry is emerging as a valuable tool in patient care, through digital communication technologies capable of providing dental care remotely. Objective: The objective of this study is to carry out a narrative literature review on Teledentistry in the care of pediatric patients. Literature review: For this, a search was carried out in the PubMed, Virtual Health Library and Scopus databases with the descriptors Teledentistry AND Pediatric Dentistry AND Dental Care. The inclusion criteria were articles that discussed about Teledentistry and dental care only for children, with complete texts and published in the last 5 years. There were no restrictions regarding language or methodology. Initially, 97 articles were found, and after eliminating duplicate studies and those that did not meet the inclusion criteria, 21 were selected and reviewed. In Pediatric Dentistry, Teledentistry can be a complementary method to in-person appointment and has a considerable impact since it provides many benefits, including initial screening, remote assessment, preventive education for oral diseases, post-treatment follow-up and monitoring of children's oral health. Conclusions: Therefore, it is believed that Teledentistry improves, expands and manages the time of dental care provided to pediatric patients and even though there are still ethical and legal difficulties to be resolved, this tool could bring even more improvements in the coming years.