Telediagnosis performance of specialists in oral medicine and general dental practitioner using images of oral mucosa lesions in Chile.

Background: The objective of this research was to evaluate the performance of specialists in oral medicine doing diagnosis of oral mucosa lesions through digital images comparing general dental practitioner in Chile.

Material and methods: 20 oral medicine specialists from the national registry of specialists in Chile and 20 general dental practitioners were invited to participate. Each participant reviewed 33 cases with digital images of oral mucosa lesions and was asked to submit diagnostic hypotheses. The proportions of correct diagnoses and diagnostic accuracy were determined. Analyses were performed using STATA 16.0.

Results: Specialists presented a higher total proportion of correct diagnoses than general dental practioners (86.5% vs 49.2%). Specialists also showed higher sensitivity (88.5% vs 59.3%) and greater specificity (85.8% vs 48.6 %) than general dental practioners in the diagnosis of oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders compared to benign oral lesions.

Conclusions: In Chile, oral medicine specialists are a reliable alternative to provide diagnostic guidance through e-consult, but its margin of error must be considered.