Awareness regarding Teledentistry among Dental Professionals in Malaysia

Table 3

Practitioners’ perceptions of benefits of teledentistry in improving dental practice and patient care.

Questions	SD (%)	D (%)	N (%)	A (%)	SA (%)
Practitioners’ perception of the capability of the teledentistry to improve practice
Teledentistry would provide accurate diagnosis in a clinical setting	10	16	42	32	—
Teledentistry would help shorten the waiting list	10	10	3	71	6
Teledentistry would enhance guidelines and advice	10	10	13	61	6
Teledentistry would improve the interaction between peers	10	16	16	58	—
Teledentistry would provide a safe atmosphere for practicing dentistry	10	3	3	48	36
Teledentistry would make patient’s referral more efficient	9	10	13	55	13
Practitioners’ perception of the usefulness of the teledentistry for dental practice
Teledentistry would enhance clinical training and continuing education	13	9	26	52	—
Teledentistry would reduce costs for the dental practices	10	13	35	36	6
Teledentistry would increase treatment time spent with the patient	10	23	19	42	6
Teledentistry would necessitate an extra appointment for taking photographs	—	19	16	49	16
Teledentistry would save time compared with a referral letter	—	—	42	48	10
Teledentistry would be too expensive to set up	—	32	36	32	—
Teledentistry would provide adequate diagnostic information	—	26	13	58	3
Practitioners’ perception of the usefulness of the teledentistry for patients
Teledentistry would save money for patients	—	16	42	36	6
Teledentistry would improve communication with patients	—	29	16	55	—
Te5ledentistry would be helpful in patient education	—	—	23	68	9
Teledentistry would help to avoid unnecessary travel to dental clinic	—	—	13	58	29
Teledentistry would be helpful in monitoring the patient’s condition	—	13	29	55	3
Teledentistry would be convenient and well received by patients	—	—	39	61	—
Teledentistry would be useful for patients in remote areas	—	7	19	58	16
Teledentistry should be covered by dental insurance plans	—	3	26	55	16

SD = strongly disagree; D = disagree; N = neutral; A = agree; SA = strongly agree.