Teledentistry as a teaching resource in clinical practice

Abstract

Introduction: The process of teaching and learning skills in the field of clinical dentistry requires students to establish effective communication with pediatric patients and their families in order to respond professionally when formulating diagnoses and treatment plans, using various tools such as teledentistry. Objective: To raise awareness of teledentistry as a curricular methodology in remote patient care for the performance of pediatric dental skills, such as completing clinical records related to data collection, medical history, including photographic records, surveys, and examinations; to complement the in-person clinical care of patients at the Children and Adolescents Clinic of our Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Chile. This activity has been carried out in the clinical cycle since 2021. Telematic care protocols are established and applied, requesting the informed consent of each patient. In general, communication is carried out via WhatsApp and video calls. Conclusions: Through teleodontology, synchronous and asynchronous communication was established in pediatric dental care for data collection and remote and close anamnesis. The number of clinical sessions that students must carry out to meet disciplinary competencies and pass their curricular activities was optimized.