Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Systems Oregon Health & Science University Portland, Oregon, United States
Virtual care for triaging of endodontic emergencies was implemented at Oregon Health & Science University, School of Dentistry as an early response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the months following the initial phase of the pandemic virtual visits continued as elective endodontic care resumed. Audio or video virtual visits were conducted as the first evaluation for all patients referred to the Graduate Endodontic Practice from August 2020 through December 2021. While virtual visits in medicine are common, little data exists regarding the use of virtual visits in dentistry, especially in endodontics. A retrospective axiUm® chart review was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic agreement between a virtual first visit and the subsequent in-person visit. Data retrieval was facilitated with the use of an axiUm® virtual visit templated note. 588 patients met the inclusion criteria with gender, age, need for interpreter, visit modality, time between and length of visits, tooth type, radiographs, and payor type collected. Agreement for pulpal and periradicular diagnosis was 82% and 70% respectively. Agreement for pulpal diagnosis was highest for previously treated and lowest for symptomatic irreversible pulpitis. Agreement for periradicular diagnosis was highest for normal apical tissue and lowest for acute apical abscess. Agreement with prognosis was 87%. A significant (p < 0.05) lack of agreement in pulpal diagnosis was seen with time between visits. Endodontic diagnosis and prognosis agreement between virtual and in-person visits showed moderate to high agreement suggesting that virtual visits are a viable option for initial endodontic visits.
