title: Email for distance diagnosis of oral diseases: a preliminary study of teledentistry.
abstract: We examined the feasibility of distance diagnosis of oral diseases, using transmission of digital images by email. Twenty-five cases of oral lesions were documented during a 12-month study in a primary care public health clinic in Paraná in Southern Brazil. Clinical electronic charts and images were produced and sent by email to two oral medicine specialists with a median of 10 years experience in the field. The consultants provided a maximum of two clinical hypotheses for each case. In 15 of the 25 cases (60%) both consultants made a correct diagnosis; in seven cases (28%) only one consultant made a correct diagnosis; and in three cases (12%) neither consultant made a correct diagnosis. Thus in 88% of cases, at least one consultant was able to provide the correct diagnosis. The results suggest that distant diagnosis can be an effective alternative in the diagnosis of oral lesions and that the using two distant consultants improves diagnostic accuracy. Primary care public health clinics may benefit from the use of email and digital cameras for telehealth in remote areas where oral medicine specialists are not available.
authors.affiliation: Stomatology Department, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba-PR, Brazil. cassius@ufpr.br
authors.forename: Cassius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Torres-Pereira
authors.forename: Renata Seleme
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Possebon
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.forename: Marcelo Carlos
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bortoluzzi
authors.forename: Jair Carneiro
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Leão
authors.forename: Allan Fernando
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Giovanini
authors.forename: Cleto Mariosvaldo
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Piazetta
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D034742:Electronic Mail; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D023861:Photography, Dental; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000592:standards*; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000592:standards; D019113:Telepathology / Q000592:standards*