Initial observations into the viability of remote preoperative assessment in secondary and tertiary oral surgery services

Abstract

The SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic triggered an increased need in a method of delivering healthcare that simultaneously do not put patients at an increased risk of transmission. A remote consultation service (Telemed) for patients referred for dentoalveolar procedures was trialled.To investigate the outcome of the Telemeds and if treatment booked as a result of the Telemeds was successful, and could be made common practice.Data was collected from Telemeds between 04 August 2020 and 30 November 2020. Data collected included whether treatment was booked as a result of the Telemed, if the treatment was successfully completed at the resulting appointment (one‐stop treatment), if an additional face‐to‐face (F2F) consultation was required and any related reasons as to why this was the case.After 499 Telemeds, 46.3% (N = 231) of patients required a F2F appointment being booked, 43.0% (N = 215) resulted in treatment being booked, 6.6% (N = 33) were discharged and 4% (N = 20) of patients did not answer when contact was attempted. Of the 215 patients who had a Telemed that led to booking of treatment, 110 had attended their follow up appointment and 95.4% (N = 105) successfully had their treatment carried out in one visit.Remote consultations are a feasible, successful and useful tool in assessing and booking dentoalveolar cases suitable for one‐stop treatment under local anaesthesia, as long as there is a specific and organized triage process, regardless of the number of teeth to be extracted or the patient's medical history. Patients requiring general anaesthesia, sedation or further radiographic imaging did not benefit from Telemeds as they needed to attend F2F anyway for pre‐operative assessment or to have their further imaging taken in the department.