title: Compliance with dental treatment recommendations by rural paediatric patients after a live-video teledentistry consultation: A preliminary report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this research was to assess the compliance rate with recommended dental treatment by rural paediatric dental patients after a live-video teledentistry consultation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective dental chart review was completed for 251 rural paediatric patients from the Finger Lakes region of New York State who had an initial teledentistry appointment with a paediatric dentist located remotely at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health in Rochester, NY. The recommended treatment modalities were tabulated and comprehensive dental treatment completion rates were obtained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The recommended treatment modality options of: treatment in the paediatric dental clinic; treatment using nitrous oxide anxiolysis; treatment with oral sedation; treatment in the operating room with general anaesthesia; or teleconsultation were identified for the 251 patients. Compliance rates for completed dental treatment based on initial teleconsultation recommendations were: 100% for treatment in the paediatric dental clinic; 56% for nitrous oxide patients; 87% for oral sedation; 93% for operating room; and 90% for teleconsultations. The differences in the compliance rates for all treatment modalities were not statistically significant (Fisher's exact test, p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compliance rates for completed comprehensive dental treatment for this rural population of paediatric dental patients were quite high, ranging from 56% to 100%, and tended to be higher when treatment was completed in fewer visits. Live-video teledentistry consultations conducted among rural paediatric patients and a paediatric dentist in the specialty clinic were feasible options for increasing dental treatment compliance rates when treating complex paediatric dental cases.
authors.affiliation: Division of Paediatric Dentistry, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, University of Rochester, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Sean W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: McLaren
authors.affiliation: Division of Community Dentistry and Oral Disease Prevention, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, University of Rochester, NY, USA Dorota_KopyckaKedzierawski@urmc.rochester.edu.
authors.forename: Dorota T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Kopycka-Kedzierawski
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D019114:Remote Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D049269:Videoconferencing
keywords: Remote consultation; teleconsulting; telehealth