Clinical usefulness of teleradiology in general dental practice

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the clinical usefulness of teleradiology in general dental practice.
Materials and Methods: Two hundred and seventy five cases were submitted for inquiry to the case presentation board of the website of The Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology for a 5 year periods. The diagnosis results of those cases were analyzed according to the disease classification, the correlation with the patient's chief complaint, the necesity of additional examinations or treatments, the image modalities, and the number of dentists inquiring.
Results: Differential diagnoses of normal anatomic strucures were the most frequently submitted cases, covering 15.6% of all cases. Among 275 cases, 164 cases required no additional treatments or examinations. Panoramic radio graphs were the most frequently submitted images, accounting for 248 inquiries. The 275 cases were submitted by 96 dentist. Fifty-two dentists wrote one inquiry, and 44 inquired 2 or more times. The average inquiry number of the latter group was 5.0 cases.
Conclusion: A teleradiology system in general dental practice could be helpful in the differentaial diagnoses of common lesions and reduce unnecessary costs.