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Readiness for Teledentistry: Validation of a Tool for Oral Health Professionals

  • Education & Training
  • Published:
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Abstract

We validated a survey tool to test the readiness of oral health professionals for teledentistry (TD). The survey tool, the University of Calgary Health Telematics Unit’s Practitioner Readiness Assessment Tool (PRAT) gathered information about the participants’ beliefs, attitudes and readiness for TD before and after a teledentistry training program developed for a rural state in the Mid-Western United States. Ninety-three dental students, oral health and other health professionals participated in the TD training program and responded to the survey. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to assess statistical differences in the change in the readiness rating before and after the training. Principal Components Analysis identified a three factor structure for the PRAT tool: Attitudes/ Attributes of Personnel; Motivation to Change and Institutional Resources. Overall, the evaluation demonstrated a positive change in all trainees’ attitudes following the training sessions, with the majority of trainees acknowledging a positive impact of the training on their readiness for teledentistry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Services Research & Administration, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 984350 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-4350, USA

    Preethy Nayar, Aastha Chandak & Niodita Gupta

  2. Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA

    Preethy Nayar

  3. Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Creighton University, Creighton, USA

    Kimberly K. McFarland

Authors
  1. Preethy Nayar
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  2. Kimberly K. McFarland
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  3. Aastha Chandak
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  4. Niodita Gupta
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Correspondence to Preethy Nayar.

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Funding Source

This publication was made possible by Grant # D85HP20046 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the HRSA, Bureau of Health Workforce or the Department of Health and Human Services.

Conflicts of Interest

All the Authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed verbal consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Education and Training.

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Nayar, P., McFarland, K.K., Chandak, A. et al. Readiness for Teledentistry: Validation of a Tool for Oral Health Professionals. J Med Syst 41, 4 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-016-0654-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-016-0654-7

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