Diagnostic accuracy of tele-dentistry in screening children for dental caries by community health workers in a lower-middle-income country.
Int J Paediatr Dent
; 34(5): 567-575, 2024 Sep.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38196024
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Tele-dentistry can be useful for dental caries screening of children, especially in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs).AIM:
To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of mobile phone photographs taken by a community health worker (CHW) for caries detection in Iran.DESIGN:
Children aged 6-12 years were visually examined by a paediatric dentist. Following dental examinations, intraoral photographs were taken by a trained CHW. Two remote dentists assessed intraoral photographs for dental caries. Diagnostic accuracy of tele-dentistry for caries detection was evaluated. In addition, the questionnaire about oral health and parents' views towards tele-dentistry was prepared.RESULTS:
One hundred thirty-one children aged 8.74 ± 1.62 years participated. The caries prevalence was 30% for the whole dentition. Tele-dentistry demonstrated high accuracy, with a sensitivity exceeding 80% and specificity exceeding 90%. The inter-rater reliability for remote dentists' assessments to the gold standard dental examination ranged from substantial to almost perfect (kappa 75%-93%). Additionally, 80% of parents whose children participated in this study had positive views towards tele-dentistry.CONCLUSION:
Tele-dentistry was shown to be an alternative approach to clinical examinations for caries detection among school children. Employing non-dental care professionals in tele-dentistry has been emerged as a reliable and cost-effective approach, especially in LMICs.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Telemedicina
/
Agentes Comunitarios de Salud
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Caries Dental
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
/
Screening_studies
Límite:
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Int J Paediatr Dent
/
Int. j. paediatr. dent
/
International journal of paediatric dentistry
Asunto de la revista:
ODONTOLOGIA
/
PEDIATRIA
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article