Management of Patients with Incompetent Lip Seal through Online Dental Medical Treatment

Abstract

With the spread of the corona virus in December 2019, online dental consultations have been relaxed and commenced. While many dental procedures, such as caries treatment, are performed directly on patients at dental clinics, there is a growing need for guidance and management by dentists for children with insufficiently developed oral function.

The aim of this study was to clarify the usefulness of online dental medical treatment in the future by providing online myofunctional therapy (MFT) for patients with incompetent lip seal (ILS), which is one of the developmental deficiencies of oral function.

The subjects were parents or guardians of children with ILS who agreed to complete the questionnaire.The children and their parents/guardians were considered to have undergone at least one MFT session in the dental clinic. The questionnaires were completed anonymously and were submitted via Google Forms.

Parents had few comments about the online MFT session, and dentists offered many suggestions for improvement. It is considered that the patients tended to be passive and did not express negative opinions because the patients were the providers and the dentists were the instructors in the online clinic. The online treatment was also well received by patients. It is considered that the online treatment is effective for MFT.