The Factors Influencing Acceptance of Teledentistry by Dentists in the Public Dental Service
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Abstract
Introduction: The "Virtual Dental Clinic" (VDC), a pilot teledentistry initiative by Malaysia’s health ministry during COVID-19, aimed to address limited healthcare access, long waiting times, and clinic congestion while providing safer environments. However, its post-pandemic success is uncertain due to unclear acceptance by Public Dental Service (PDS) dentists. The study aimed to assess the factors influencing the acceptance of teledentistry among PDS dentists. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted online in April 2024. Participants were recruited using the chain-referral sampling method by distributing a Google Form link via email and social media to the researchers’ professional contacts, who then extended the invitation. After consenting, the participants completed a questionnaire on socio-demographics, knowledge, experience, acceptance, perceived capabilities, usefulness for dental practice and patients, and challenges related to teledentistry. Associations were examined using logistic regression at a 5% significance level. Results: The majority of the 562 participants were female (83.3%), general dental practitioners (89.5%), and aged 24-34 years (65.1%). Only 25.4% had prior teledentistry knowledge, and 52.7% accepted it. Teledentistry acceptance was significantly associated with PDS dentists’ qualification (OR:0.44), perception of teledentistry's capabilities (OR:1.3), usefulness for practice (OR:1.2) and patients (OR:1.1), and usage challenges (OR:1.3) (p< 0.05). Conclusion: Malaysian PDS dentists generally accept teledentistry for its potential to strengthen dental service by improving communication, education, accessibility, time management, and reducing healthcare costs but were concerned about setup expenses, application awareness, patient readiness, diagnosis accuracy and data entry errors; addressing these may improve acceptance and ensure teledentistry success in Malaysia.
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