Patients' experience with teledentistry compared to conventional follow-up visits in TMD clinic: A pilot study

Teledentistry has been used in many dental specialties including temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD). Studies have measured patients' experience with teledentistry visits. Thus, this study aimed to assess the experience of patients seen using teledentistry compared to the traditional Orofacial Pain (OFP) and TMD visits.

An interventional study was conducted on 25 patients following up at the TMD clinic. The first follow-up occurred in person at the hospital clinic, where patients were given a survey at the end of the visit. A questionnaire included the following sections: socio-demographic information, patient experience of the visit, preferred online platforms, and patients' familiarity with these platforms. Patients had teledentistry visits via ZOOM Premium. After the visit, patients were given a second survey highlighting their experience towards the virtual visit and sections from the first survey. The study compares patients' satisfaction between conventional and virtual follow-up visits and compares patient experience differences based on their demographics.

Twenty-five patients completed both surveys. Over half of the participants were younger than 35 years old (64 %), and the majority were female (80 %). A total of 76 % had used virtual platforms prior to the study, and 74 % of them were convenient. Regarding patients' experience, only a borderline difference existed among the age groups of the study in effectively using teledentistry in the follow-ups compared to conventional visits (p = 0.05). Other results revealed no significant differences in patients' experience between virtual and conventional visits, indicating that high-quality dental care services can be provided remotely. Therefore, teledentistry could be integrated into the OFP and TMD Clinic flow without adversely affecting patient experience or quality of care.

Virtual follow-up visits could save patients' time, effort, and travel costs compared to conventional visits. Waiting lists are increasing in almost all dental; thus, integrating virtual follow-up visits would shorten these lists.