Teaching Tool for Teledentistry Modeled with Pediatric Dentistry Residents

Purpose: To present a patient interaction teaching tool for synchronous teledentistry visits following concepts in critical thinking and report on the viability, assessment and implementation of the tool in an academic pediatric dentistry clinic.
Methods: A teaching tool was derived from interviews with pediatric dental residents and clinicians. The tool contained six main sections and 26 steps. The main sections included: greeting, medical, dental and behavioral histories; airway assessment; treatment recommendations; behavioral modalities of treatment; and follow-up. A faculty member assigned each interviewer dichotomous values of yes and no for implementation of each step of the teaching tool.
Results: Six pediatric dentistry residents participated in a tool use demonstration with 21 patients. The purpose of each interview was to gain information for procedural treatment at the first onsite visit. All pediatric dental residents completed over 90 percent of the steps in each section. The interview duration ranged from eight to 29 minutes (median: equals 18 minutes). Eighteen of the 21 patients were scheduled for follow-up visits.
Conclusions: The emulation model for provisional treatment planning is viable for teledentistry. Pilot results showed students consistently completed over 90 percent of skillset steps and that this teaching tool serves as a framework for teledentistry appointments.