Name
#19 - Evaluating the Diagnostic Interrater Reliability between Virtual and In-person Sick-call Examinations at a Military Dental Treatment Facility
Date & Time
Monday, February 12, 2024, 12:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Description

Teledentistry, also known as virtual dental examinations, is a potentially innovative approach to increasing access to care. Although research has shown the general benefits of telemedicine/teledentistry in terms of increasing access and improving oral health, there is no research evaluating the use of teledentistry for virtual emergency examinations in a military environment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic interrater reliability between virtual and in-person examinations for patients seeking emergency dental care (sick call) at a military dental treatment facility. One hundred subjects received both virtual and in-person examinations on the same day, in a random order. The virtual examiner and subject were stationed in separate rooms and used only a laptop equipped with a camera, microphone, and speaker to complete the virtual exam. In contrast, the in-person examiner had access to all standard care modalities in a dental treatment room. After the first encounter, the subject proceeded to the corresponding virtual or in-person exam, and both examiners determined a diagnosis. Interrater agreement was determined between the two encounters for both diagnosis specialty category and diagnostic code using the Kappa coefficient. The results of the interrater analyses showed a Kappa of 0.644 for diagnosis specialty category (p<0.001) and a Kappa of 0.714 for diagnostic codes (p<0.001). Both analyses indicated substantial agreement. We conclude that teledentistry can be an effective tool for determining a diagnosis and improving access to care for dental emergencies at military dental treatment facilities.

Location Name
Prince Georges Exhibit Hall A/B
Content Presented on Behalf of
Air Force
Learning Outcomes
Following this presentation, the participant will be able to:
(1)understand that virtual dentistry can provide military members with access to diagnostic care that was previously unavailable,
(2)appreciate that virtual dental appointments can also help triage patients appropriately,
(3)and realize that patients who are identified through a virtual examination as not needing an in-person examination can be scheduled for treatment immediately, reducing the influx of patients.
Session Type
Posters
Dropdown Content Presented On Behalf Of:
Air Force