Telemedicine and COVID-19: Pandemic

Abstract

To decrease the chance of spread of highly infectious coronavirus disease, the complete lockdown has been taking place in India as well as many other countries of the world. At this difficult time, telehealth can play a major role as it is ideal for the treatment and management of infectious diseases, thus fulfilling the purpose of ‘social distancing’. Telehealth can be beneficial to those who are at higher risk of getting infected and also to the health care providers by decreasing the exposure as well as the workload of health care providers. Telehealth uses computer technology to convey clinical data for diagnosis, treatment as well as management of the disease. Tele-dentistry is telemedicine in dental practice which can also be helpful in the current national emergency. Within the dental practice, teledentistry is widely used in disciplines like preventive dentistry, orthodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, periodontal conditions, early dental caries detection, and education. Patients, oral medication and diagnosis. Some of the main modes and methods used in teledentistry are electronic health records, electronic referral systems, image scanning, teleconvention and telediagnosis. All applications used in teledentistry aim to improve efficiency, provide access to an ineligible population, improve quality of care, and reduce the burden of oral disease. This article provides a review of the use of telemedicine and teledentistry in the time of coronavirus disease.