The need for studies assessing the effectiveness of teledentistry in people with mental-health disorders

Background: Telemedicine is used to support self-care through remote monitoring of disease and to provide consultations remotely, especially to patients who have limited access to healthcare by providing care to these patients in their homes and clinics. Teledentistry offers possibilities to improve access to care for people with mental disabilities who are institutionalized. Objective: The aim of this literature review is to systematically review the literature on the effectiveness of teledentistry in people with mental health disorders. Methods: Articles published until 20th of January 2023 were included. An information specialist helped creating the search strategy. The search strategy in Medline/Pubmed was: ((("Telemedicine"[Mesh] AND ("Dentistry"[Mesh] OR "Oral Health"[Mesh])) OR teledentist*[tiab] OR "tele-dentist*"[tiab]) OR (Teledentistry)) AND ("Mentally Ill Persons"[Mesh] OR "Mental Disorders"[Mesh] OR "Mental Health"[Mesh] OR "Mental Disorder*"[tiab] OR "Psychiatric Ill*"[tiab] OR "Psychiatric Diseas*"[tiab] OR "Mental Ill*"[tiab] OR "Psychiatric Disorder*"[tiab] OR "Behavior Disorder*"[tiab] OR "Psychiatric Diagnosis"[tiab] OR SMI[tiab] OR "Mental health*"[tiab] OR "Mental hygien*"[tiab].). Results: Two studies were identified of which none was included in this review. Conclusion: Although, teledentistry has shown promising results in people with reduced access to care. It is unknown whether teledentistry is applicable in mental health care. Research has shown that psychotic patients can have a somewhat negative experience during the oral teleconsultation procedure (Petcu et al, 2017). This literature study shows that there is a need for studies assessing the feasibility, acceptability, implementation and effectiveness of Teledentistry on oral health in people mental health problems.