Teledentistry and Distance Learning: Improving Access to Oral Health Care and Education

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust teledentistry and distance learning to the forefront of policy considerations. Teledentistry supports the delivery of oral health services through electronic communication means, connecting providers and patients without the usual time and space constraints. Teledentistry's unique ability to connect disadvantaged, rural communities and the homebound with dental providers makes this method particularly well-suited to address the lack of access during and after the pandemic.

Teledentistry can be used for consultation and triage, allowing providers to advise patients whether their dental concerns constitute a need for urgent or emergency care, whether a condition could be temporarily alleviated at home, or whether treatment could be postponed. Teledentistry and distance learning can also be used to facilitate access to preventive services and oral health education.

In support of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and SDG 10: Reduced inequalities, BMC Oral Health has launched a new collection to bring together research using teledentistry or distance learning to:

• Improve access to oral health care.
• Support the delivery of oral health services.
• Facilitate preventative care.
• Facilitate professional and public oral health education.

Raša Mladenović

Dr Raša Mladenović is an Assistant Professor at the University of Kragujevac, Serbia. Rasa specializes in Paediatric Dentistry and has dedicated a good part of his research to digital dentistry. Dr Mladenović works on projects developing technology-enhanced teaching methods in dental education. He is experienced in the programming of dedicated applications and educational promoting materials in the field of oral health and education. Dr Mladenović is also a member of the BMC Oral Health Editorial Board.

Bharathi Purohit

Dr Bharathi Purohit is an Assistant Professor within the Division of Public Health Dentistry, Centre for Dental Education and Research, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Dr Purohit has scientific publications among the highly acclaimed PubMed indexed international journals and is a member of the BMC Oral Health Editorial Board. She has expertise in oral health promotion, oral health policy and teledentistry.

Tuti Mohd-Dom

Tuti is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Dentistry, the National University of Malaysia. She has a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan,  and her PhD was in Community Health awarded by the National University of Malaysia. Her research interests include health systems and policies, multidisciplinary approaches to promote oral health and reduce oral health disparities, and methods to improve soft skills in dental education. She is involved in developing national accreditation standards and quality assurance in dental education as well as evaluating compliance to these standards. Dr Tuti Mohd-Dom is also a member of the BMC Oral Health Editorial Board. 

This Collection will consider research, database and software articles. Review articles will be considered at the discretion of the Journal’s Editor. If you would like to submit a review article, please first email Jennifer Harman <jennifer.harman@springernature.com> - the Editor of BMC Oral Health. Please note that unsolicited reviews will not be considered as per our submission guidelines.

Datasets, descriptions and short reports relevant to the Collection will be considered by BMC Research Notes as data or research notes. This type of content will be published in BMC Research Notes and included in the final collection.

Articles under consideration for publication within the collection will be assessed according to the standard BMC Oral Health editorial criteria and will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process overseen by Editorial Board Members Dr Raša Mladenović (University of Kragujevac), ‪Associate Professor Tuti Ningseh Mohd Dom (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) and Dr Bharathi Purohit (People's College of Dental Sciences & Research Centre). 

Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have carefully read the submission guidelines for BMC Oral Health. Please ensure you highlight in your cover letter that you are submitting to a collection and select the collection in the submission questionnaire in Editorial Manager.

If accepted for publication, an article processing charge applies. Please click here to find out about our standard waiver policy.

The Collection closes on the 1st of July 2022.