European Journal of Prosthodontics and Restorative Dentistry

Minimal Data Set for Remote Clinical Consultations in Restorative Dentistry – An Exploratory Case Study

Email a link to this journal

Cover Date

September 2020

Print ISSN

0965-7452

Electronic ISSN

2396-8893

Vol

28

Issue

3

Abstract

In the UK, general dental practitioners (GDPs) in primary care are supported in the patient care decision-making-process by specialist consultants in secondary care centres. The consultation, undertaken as an in-person consultation between the patient and the consultant, consists of a comprehensive clinical assessment; The outcome is conveyed to the patient, GDP and other stakeholders as appropriate. Tele-dentistry has the potential to provide an alternative approach through a Remote Clinical Consultation (RCC). To make the encounter as efficient as possible it is helpful to identify data that is essential for the safe and effective conduct of the process. The aims of this exploratory case study are (i) to discriminate between data sets of specialist clinical consultations
in endodontics, periodontics and prosthodontics; and (ii) to investigate the opinions of secondary care providers for in-person and RCCs. An online questionnaire was administered to secondary care specialty clinicians in restorative dentistry in the UK (Specialist consultants and senior trainee grades). Results: It is feasible to identify a generic minimum data set for specific consultation processes specifics vary between specialties and experience of the clinician. Views of the consultation process, in-person vs remote, varied between consultants and trainee grades.

Keywords
Consultation
Restorative Dentistry
Teledentistry
Remote Clinical Consultations