Abstract
Objective: To assess the possibility of controlling patients at a distance according to principles of teleorthodontics to understand its possible usefulness in the future routine activity and the impact pandemic may have had on different types of orthodontic treatments. Material and Methods: One hundred orthodontic patients (57 F, 43 M, age 7-46) during quarantine were checked through videocalls and photos sent by patients following proper instructions. Three groups have been distinguished based on the type of therapy: A-fixed appliances; B-removable appliances; C-clear aligners. Relevant events about dental and gingival health, integrity of appliances, orthodontic therapies related symptoms and overall progress of treatments were recorded. Results: A and B groups reported higher percentages of gingival inflammation (27 and 22%), dental plaque (16 and 13%), deciduous tooth loss (8 and 16%). Bracket and attachment detachment were the most frequent events in A and C groups (22 and 23%). Pain and discomfort were reported in A and B groups (35 and 32%). Therapies continued to progress better in C (51% improved dental alignment) and B (31% improved malocclusions) groups. Conclusion: Orthodontics is safe and allows during emergencies to postpone checks. Everyday mobile-technology is useful in managing orthodontic patients unable to carry out in-person control. When their effectiveness equals other systems, treatments with clear aligners without attachments should be preferred in patients unavailable for regular checks.
Highlights
Telemedicine is the complex of technologies and tools that cover medical services, ranging from the formation of opinion during consultation to diagnosis, prescriptions, treatment and monitoring of the patient, all carried out remotely via an Internet connection
Objective: To assess the possibility of controlling patients at a distance according to principles of teleorthodontics to understand its possible usefulness in the future routine activity and the impact pandemic may have had on different types of orthodontic treatments
This study aims to assess the reliability of virtual orthodontic remote controls according to principles of teleorthodontics to understand its possible usefulness in the future routine activity and to evaluate the impact that the pandemic may have had on different types of orthodontic treatments
Summary
Telemedicine is the complex of technologies and tools that cover medical services, ranging from the formation of opinion during consultation to diagnosis, prescriptions, treatment and monitoring of the patient, all carried out remotely via an Internet connection. Telemedicine allows to break down the distances that exist between doctor and patient in pediatric age [1,2]. This is a very important aspect in dentistry. In the context of teledentistry, its application to orthodontics, called teleorthodontics, can be considered a very useful tool to assess the patient remotely when he wants to report a problem related to a fixed or removable device before periodic check-in person or when he has doubts about how to use the removable orthodontic devices or some components of the fixed one (e.g., elastics) [4]. Teledentistry is, a specialistic extension of telemedicine that has been developed first at the military level and subsequently has found application mainly in the management of visits to patients living in rural areas in countries where dental practices can be many kilometers away or in the case of the management of patients whose movements want to be limited to the necessary for reasons of greater fragility, for example in the case of cancer patients [3].
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