Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2022 Mar 15;19(6):3444.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063444.

Can Teledentistry Replace Conventional Clinical Follow-Up Care for Minor Dental Surgery? A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial

Diana Heimes  1 , Philipp Luhrenberg  1 , Nils Langguth  1 , Sebahat Kaya  1 , Christine Obst  2 , Peer W Kämmerer  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Can Teledentistry Replace Conventional Clinical Follow-Up Care for Minor Dental Surgery? A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial

Diana Heimes et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

(1) Background: Born out of necessity, the implementation of digital processes experienced significant increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, telemedicine offered a bridge to care and now an opportunity to reinvent virtual and hybrid care models, with the goal of improved healthcare access, outcomes, and affordability. The aim of this monocentric prospective, randomized trial was to compare conventional to telephone follow-up after minor dentoalveolar surgery on the basis of special aftercare questionnaires. (2) Methods: Sixty patients who underwent dentoalveolar surgery under local anesthesia were randomly assigned to both groups. After an average of four days, either telephone follow-up (test) or conventional personal aftercare (control) was performed. Based on the questionnaire, the following subject areas were evaluated: symptoms, complications, satisfaction with practitioner, travel, and waiting time, as well as the preferred form of follow-up care. (3) Results: There was no statistically significant difference regarding frequency of symptoms or complication rate. Patients who were assigned to the test group showed a clear tendency to prefer telephone follow-up (83.3%) to conventional aftercare (16.7%, p = 0.047). (4) Conclusions: The data suggest high acceptance of telephone-only follow-up after dentoalveolar surgery. The implementation of telemedicine could be a time- and money-saving alternative for both patients and healthcare professionals and provide healthcare access regardless of time and space.

Keywords: follow-up; oral health; oral surgery; teledentistry; telemedicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Assignment to either telephone or clinical follow-up group. Patients excluded due to reasons either did not match the inclusion criteria (no minor surgery as defined by tooth extraction or osteotomy), were excluded because of refusal to participate, or due to other reasons such as matching the exclusion criteria or complications during surgery such as severe bleeding or swelling.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bar charts illustrating freedom of symptoms classification between the two groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bar charts illustrating exclusion of complications.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Evaluation of the practitioner.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) Evaluation of the form of follow-up care. (B) Duration of the appointment.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) Evaluation of the form of follow-up care. (B) Duration of the appointment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Susarla S.M., Black R., Dodson T.B. After dentoalveolar surgery, most patients are satisfied with telephone follow-up. J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 2011;69:2099–2105. doi: 10.1016/j.joms.2010.12.013. - DOI - PubMed
    1. WHO . A Health Telematics Policy in Support of WHO’S Health-For-All Strategy for Global Development: Report of the WHO Group Consultation on Health Telematics 11–16 December, Geneva, 1997. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 1998.
    1. WHO Telemedicine: Opportunities and Developments in Member States: Report on the Second Global Survey on eHealth 2009. Healthc. Inform. Res. 2012;18:153–155. doi: 10.4258/hir.2012.18.2.153. - DOI
    1. Thompson J.C., Cichowski S.B., Rogers R.G., Qeadan F., Zambrano J., Wenzl C., Jeppson P.C., Dunivan G.C., Komesu Y.M. Outpatient visits versus telephone interviews for postoperative care: A randomized controlled trial. Int. Urogynecol. J. 2019;30:1639–1646. doi: 10.1007/s00192-019-03895-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Woods C.E., Jones R., O’Shea E., Grist E., Wiggers J., Usher K. Nurse-led postdischarge telephone follow-up calls: A mixed study systematic review. J. Clin. Nurs. 2019;28:3386–3399. doi: 10.1111/jocn.14951. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types