Patients Self-Reporting of Utilizing Teledental Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: Currently, the majority of health facilities in Saudi Arabia are supplemented with the required technological infrastructure to support different formats of telehealth. There is limited evidence on the actual utilization of teledentistry among dental patients during COVID-19. Thus, the purpose of this study was to describe the utilization of teledentistry services during the pandemic among dental care seekers in Saudi Arabia. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study through an online self-administered survey released publicly. The survey was available during March, April, and May 2021. The targeted population was dental care seekers who used any teledental services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. Results: There were 235 responses available for analysis. Among the 235 responses, 91.91% did not use any teledental services during COVID-19, while 8.09% utilized different teledental services during COVID-19. Participants who utilized teledental services during COVID-19, used the following services: dental diagnosis, dental consultations, monitoring and follow-ups of previous dental treatments, routine dental check-ups, and finally, triaging dental cases as emergency or nonemergency cases. Discussion: Saudi Arabia has a strong technological infrastructure with a highly ranked healthcare system. However, teledental services were weakly utilized by dental care seekers during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.