A Systematic Umbrella Review of the Effects of Teledentistry on Costs and Oral-Health Outcomes

Janneke F. M. Scheerman (), Alaa H. Qari, Benoit Varenne, Harmen Bijwaard, Laura Swinckels, Nicolas Giraudeau, Berno van Meijel and Rodrigo Mariño
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Janneke F. M. Scheerman: Oral Hygiene, Cluster Health, Sport and Welfare, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, 1081 LA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Alaa H. Qari: College of Dental Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24381, Saudi Arabia
Benoit Varenne: Oral Health Programme, Department of Noncommunicable Diseases, Rehabilitation and Disability (NCD), World Health Organization, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Harmen Bijwaard: Medical Technology Research Group, Cluster Health, Sport and Welfare, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, 2015 CE Haarlem, The Netherlands
Laura Swinckels: Oral Hygiene, Cluster Health, Sport and Welfare, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, 1081 LA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Nicolas Giraudeau: CEPEL, CNRS, University of Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France
Berno van Meijel: Mental Health Nursing Research Group, Cluster Health, Sport and Welfare, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, 2015 CE Haarlem, The Netherlands
Rodrigo Mariño: Center for Research in Epidemiology, Economics and Oral Public Health (CIEESPO), Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 01145, Chile

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 4, 1-24

Abstract: Teledentistry offers possibilities for improving efficiency and quality of care and supporting cost-effective healthcare systems. This umbrella review aims to synthesize existing systematic reviews on teledentistry and provide a summary of evidence of its clinical- and cost-effectiveness. A comprehensive search strategy involving various teledentistry-related terms, across seven databases, was conducted. Articles published until 24 April 2023 were considered. Two researchers independently reviewed titles, abstracts and full-text articles. The quality of the included reviews was critically appraised with the AMSTAR-2 checklist. Out of 749 studies identified, 10 were included in this umbrella review. Two reviews focusing on oral-health outcomes revealed that, despite positive findings, there is not yet enough evidence for the long-term clinical effectiveness of teledentistry. Ten reviews reported on economic evaluations or costs, indicating that teledentistry is cost-saving. However, these conclusions were based on assumptions due to insufficient evidence on cost-effectiveness. The main limitation of our umbrella review was the critically low quality of the included reviews according to AMSTAR-2 criteria, with many of these reviews basing their conclusions on low-quality studies. This highlights the need for high-quality experimental studies (e.g., RCTs, factorial designs, stepped-wedge designs, SMARTs and MRTs) to assess teledentistry’s clinical- and cost-effectiveness.

Keywords: telemedicine; remote care; digital technology; teledentistry; oral health; dental; telehealth; review; digital health; effectiveness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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