Acceptability of Teledentistry in Mobile Oral Health Applications for Australian Children: A Qualitative Study
Johanna Groundwater, Ria Aiyar, Lisa Jamieson, Tamanna Tiwari, Estie Kruger, Marc Tennant, Sonia NathABSTRACT
Issues Addressed
Access to timely dental care remains inequitable for children in rural, remote and disadvantaged communities. Teledentistry could narrow this gap, and mobile oral health apps offer a platform, yet user acceptance remains largely unexamined. This study explored how parents, public health professionals, software and design professionals and dental professionals perceive a teledentistry feature within a children's oral health app, and the equity and governance issues it raises.
Methods
Parents and caregivers, public health professionals, software and design professionals and dental professionals were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling via professional networks, social media and organisational contacts. Participants completed an online questionnaire capturing demographic characteristics and perceptions of mobile oral health technologies, followed by a semi‐structured interview conducted in person, by telephone or via videoconference by one of four researchers. Interviews were audio‐recorded and transcribed verbatim. Questionnaire data were summarised descriptively, and interviews were analysed using Braun and Clarke's six‐phase reflexive thematic analysis. Two researchers coded the data and developed preliminary themes.
Results
A total of 59 participants (39 women, 20 men) were interviewed, and four themes were developed: (1) acceptance of a teledentistry feature within a mobile oral health application; (2) the potential for teledentistry to improve access and equity; (3) preferences for in‐person care, reflecting concerns about diagnostic accuracy, communication and clinician–patient relationships; and (4) perceived logistical and governance challenges to implementation. Participants viewed teledentistry as an acceptable, complementary feature for screening, triage, follow‐up and continuity of care, recognising its potential to reduce geographical, social and systemic barriers, particularly for rural and isolated paediatric populations. However, concerns persisted that diagnostic accuracy, communication, trust and cultural safety are difficult to replicate remotely, alongside logistical and governance challenges including cost, funding, workforce capacity, oversight and safeguarding.
Conclusions
Teledentistry has the potential to improve equitable access to oral healthcare for children and families. However, its effectiveness depends on careful design and on its recognition as a trusted supplement to, rather than a replacement for, in‐person care. This approach requires strong governance, sustainable funding and child‐safe consent.
So What?
Teledentistry is likely to be accepted by families and professionals only when it is positioned as an adjunct that extends, rather than substitutes for, in‐person paediatric dental care. Developers and policymakers should therefore prioritise triage, follow‐up and continuity functions, with clear pathways to a clinician and attention to cultural safety.