IMPLEMENTATION OF TELEDENTISTRY IN POSTGRADUATE DENTAL EDUCATION DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN SAUDI ARABIA

Access to dental treatment, is still a big concern in this extraordinary situation owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, non-conventional approaches such as teledentistry can help to overcome the problem. This study aims to measure the levels of knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and practices of teledentistry among postgraduate dental students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional descriptive survey using an online google form was conducted to assess the knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and practices of teledentistry among 102 (Male=69, Female=63) postgraduate dental students by using a validated self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of frequency distribution and chi-square test applied to assess the relationship between categorical variables. Data analysis was performed by using IBM-SPSS (Version 25, Armonk; NY: USA). 102 study participants, 79% heard about teledentistry before, and 69% were aware of teledentistry, while 70.5% never used teledentistry before the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of the respondents want to practice teledentistry shortly. No statistical difference was found regarding the gender and telemedicine items, except for the significantly higher proportion of females than males who believed that teledentistry can be applied in any dentistry (p=0.020). Similarly, no significant difference was found regarding the age and telemedicine items, except that significantly higher respondents in the age group 31-36 had attended a lecture/course about teledentistry (p=0.016). The research participants agreed that COVID-19 would allow dental education on the Internet as the best option (P=0.034). Findings indicate adequate knowledge and awareness about teledentistry among postgraduate dental residents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia.