Document Type : Systematic Review
Authors
1 Dental Student, Membership of Dental Material Research Center, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Oral Medicine Department, Membership of Dental Material Research Center, School of Dentistry, Islamic Azad University - Tehran Medical Branch, Tehran, Iran.
3 DDS., Membership of Dental Material Research Center, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Background: Teledentistry is the use of digital communication technologies to provide remote dental care, which offers innovative solutions to enhance access, efficiency, and patient outcomes.
Purpose: This article evaluates the diagnostic accuracy of teledentistry compared to in-person gold-standard examinations, primarily in restorative dentistry.
Materials and Method: A systematic search of literature was conducted on PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, and Scopus databases, covering studies from 2015 and 2024. Due to methodological heterogeneity and limited comparable studies, meta-analysis was only feasible for the field of restorative dentistry, and other specialties were analyzed descriptively. Furthermore, the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess bias, which manifested a moderate-to-low risk of bias.
Results: The results of 4 studies in restorative dentistry demonstrated a moderate sensitivity of 77.2% (95% CI: 62.5-87.4%) and a high specificity of 89.1% (95% CI: 70.5-96.5%). While significant heterogeneity persisted (I² = 68% for sensitivity and 92% for specificity), sensitivity analyses confirmed robust pooled estimates unaffected by individual study removal. This was attributable to methodological variations in diagnostic thresholds and image capture protocols despite uniform smartphone photography. On the other hand, descriptive analysis of studies in other fields revealed variable diagnostic accuracy, with teledentistry showing promise in orthodontics and prosthodontics but limitations in endodontics.
Conclusion: The findings suggest teledentistry as a useful diagnostic tool in restorative dentistry, though it is not yet a complete substitute for in-person examinations. However, the generalizability of these findings to other dental specialties remains low due to the lack of an adequate number of relevant studies. Moreover, insufficient data exist to support the positive role of artificial intelligence (AI) in combination with tele-dentistry. Therefore, future work should prioritize standardized AI-tele-dentistry validation and expand research across diverse specialties to strengthen evidence.
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