Explorar la valoración desde la perspectiva de los y las dentistas, sobre la teleodontología después de haber vivido las restricciones de atención por la pandemia de Covid-19

Abstract

In 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic began in Wuhan, China. Because there was no vaccine against the virus, governments and authorities began quarantines, paralyzing activities and public services. Due to the risks for oral health professionals, dentistry was limited to emergency care only, therefore it was crucial to apply new forms of dental care to control dental pathologies. Consequently the importance of exploring and knowing the experience of dentists after this health scenario, in relation to their perception and assessment of teledentistry. General objective: Explore the assessment from the perspective of Universidad Finis terrae's dentists on teledentistry after having experienced the care restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific objectives: 1) Describe the perception from the perspective of Universidad Finis terrae's dentists on teledentistry after having experienced the care restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2) Describe the difficulties and potential from the perspective of Universidad Finis terrae's dentists on teledentistry after having experienced the care restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: Qualitative descriptive study based on a phenomenological design. Non-probabilistic structural sample for convenience, determined by age, specialty and if they have clinical practice. Size defined by theoretical saturation. Data collection instrument: semi-structured interview. An open call was made to the teaching dental surgeons of Universidad Finis Terrae. Result and analysis: Theoretical saturation was reached in interview No. 15. After the transcription, anonymization and reading of each interview, the categorization of the data obtained was carried out along with the emerging codes. Conclusion: The importance of exploring and knowing the experience of dentists after this health scenario and contributing to the construction of comprehensive knowledge about this experience to evaluate the possibility of implementing teledentistry as a complement to routine dental care.