Evaluation of a telemedicine program in oral pathology and preventive oral examination in Hualqui Municipality, Chile

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Introduction: A telemedicine program in oral pathology (TOP) and a preventive oral examination (POE) to identify oral lesions was implemented in Hualqui, Chile. The objective of this study is to describe the results of the TOP plus POE strategy at CESFAM Hualqui, Chile, during the period of 2016 to 2019. Materials and methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted with 152 Hualqui patients between 2016 and 2019. The following variables were recorded diagnosis; injury diagnosis dates; date of teleconsultation; date and response of the specialist and subsequent control; waiting time for response (WTR) and waiting time for attention (WTA). Results: The WTR was 19.7 ± 12.8 days and WTA presented a median of 20 days (1−125) days. A total of 45 different oral pathologies were identified, the most frequent being stomatitis 8.6% (13), fibroma 8.6% (13) and mucocele 7.9% (12), and among the least frequent highlights three cases of oral cancer. Conclusions: The waiting periods until a response from the specialist and then until the face-to-face control were around 3 weeks each, most of the cases were identified through POE and correspond mostly to benign pathologies.