Strategies for Promoting Teledentistry Adoption in Dental Care: A Realist Review

By
Krithika Priyadharshini Arunagiri
Paul Allison
Shashank Kannan
Pascaline Kengne Talla
October 8, 2026

Digital Health

Overview

The article describes teledentistry as a set of information and communication technologies for delivering oral healthcare, with potential benefits for patients, providers, and health systems. It identifies persistent individual, organizational, and contextual barriers to implementation and argues that understanding how strategies work in real-world settings requires attention to mechanisms and context, not only overall effectiveness.

Background

Teledentistry includes synchronous and asynchronous services such as screening, triage, consultation, diagnosis, monitoring, referrals, and patient education. The source reports that it can reduce patient waiting periods and expenses, improve satisfaction, support specialist consultation and professional collaboration, and help address oral health inequalities. Despite expanded literature since the COVID-19 pandemic, implementation barriers include limited knowledge and awareness, inadequate training and reimbursement, digital access and literacy gaps, and unclear guidelines and legal frameworks. The article notes that implementation strategies can support adoption and sustainment, but their relationship to outcomes and the mechanisms through which they operate remain insufficiently understood.

Data Highlights

The supplied article excerpt contains no numerical trial results. Related reporting cited in the source context describes an ADA Clinical Evaluators Panel report based on 244 dentist respondents: 30% reported using teledentistry, and most adopters had begun using it within the preceding three years. The excerpt does not provide numerical results for the realist review itself.

Key Findings

Teledentistry encompasses multiple modalities and services, including real-time care, store-and-forward systems, and mobile health.
Reported patient-level effects include shorter waiting periods, lower expenses, and improved satisfaction.
For oral healthcare providers, teledentistry can enable specialist consultations and strengthen communication and collaboration.
Implementation barriers span individual, organizational, and contextual levels, including training, reimbursement, digital literacy, and regulatory clarity.
Implementation approaches described in the article include tailored educational meetings, outreach, facilitation, audit and feedback, patient reminders, and behavioral interventions.
The related ADA panel report cited in the supplied context found that 30% of 244 responding dentists used teledentistry; most users had adopted it within the prior three years.

Clinical Implications

The article indicates that implementation planning should account for patients, oral healthcare providers, and the wider health system, while adapting strategies to local circumstances. The supplied 2025 AAPD policy context describes teledentistry as an adjunct to in-person care and emphasizes licensure, informed consent, documentation, privacy and security, and reimbursement when covered.

Conclusion

Teledentistry offers a range of care-delivery modalities and reported benefits, but adoption is shaped by barriers across multiple levels. The article identifies a need to clarify how implementation strategies interact with context and mechanisms to influence real-world outcomes.