Factors that influence the adoption of teledentistry by dental professionals in South Africa.

Abstract

The emergence of the fourth industrial revolution has introduced many capabilities for the healthcare sector. The concept of telehealth, or "healthcare at a distance" has been studied extensively in various domains such as medicine, dentistry, cardiology, radiology, and mental health. South Africa, a country marked by a high prevalence of oral health disease and a lack of dental professionals to cater to the public and rural sectors, can benefit from the capabilities of teledentistry. Despite the promising capabilities of teledentistry, telehealth has not thrived in South Africa, and the successful adoption of teledentistry has not been investigated amongst South African dental professionals. Furthermore, technological innovations are susceptible to cyberattacks, and given South Africa's vulnerable standing to cybercrime, it is crucial to study trust and perceived risks that pertain to teledentistry. There exists a gap in the literature that identifies the factors influencing the adoption of teledentistry amongst South African dental professionals, and how cyber security risks influence teledentistry adoption as well. This study aimed to address the above, by utilizing a conceptual model based on the UTAUT and added constructs of trust and perceived risk. Online questionnaires were distributed to dental professionals on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and WhatsApp. A sample of 146 respondents was utilized in the study through convenience and snowball sampling. The study was predominantly quantitative and data was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics (one sample t-tests, Pearson correlation, and regression). The study’s questionnaire did include a section that elicited an open-ended response that was analysed from a phenomenological perspective. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, trust, and perceived risk all had significant positive correlations with behavioral intention to adopt teledentistry. The construct of performance expectancy exhibited the strongest correlation with behavioural intention and facilitating conditions the lowest. The main theme derived from the open-ended section was that teledentistry would be used in a supplementary manner to to enhance dentistry by increasing the capacity for quick patient consultations rather than become a fully fledged replacement for dentistry. The study provides a concise identification of factors that will enhance the use of teledenistry within the dentistry sector of South Africa thereby ensuring greater access to dental expertise at a cost that is economically viable.