Title

Understanding medico-legal issues in teledentistry: Knowledge and awareness among dental professionals

Authors

Priyanka Paul Madhu¹,*, GM Prashanth², Chetan Patil¹, Vidushi Sheokand³, Rajani Sachin Komble¹, Sahil Maghu⁴, Sangeeta Kumar⁵ & Kumar Gaurav Chhabra⁴

Affiliation

¹Department of Public Health Dentistry, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) Dental College and Hospital, Sangli, Maharashtra, India; ²Department of Public Health Dentistry, College of Dental Sciences, Davangere, Karnataka, India; ³Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana, India; ⁴Department of Public Health Dentistry / Oral Medicine and Radiology, NIMS Dental College and Hospital, NIMS University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; ⁵Department of Prosthodontics, Affordable Dentures and Implants, Virginia, United States of America; *Corresponding author

Email

Priyanka Paul Madhu - E-mail: priyanka.madhu@bharatividyapeeth.edu
GM Prashanth - E-mail: gmprashant@yahoo.com
Chetan Patil - E-mail: chetan.patil@bharatividyapeeth.edu
Vidhushi Sheokand - E-mail: vidushi.sheokand@gmail.com
Rajani Sachin Komble - E-mail: rajani.komble@bharatividyapeeth.edu
Sahil Maghu - E-mail: drsahilmaghu@gmail.com
Sangeeta Kumar - E-mail: sangeetakumar2721@gmail.com
Kumar Gaurav Chhabra - E-mail: rajsushil.chhabra@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received August 1, 2026; Revised August 31, 2026; Accepted August 31, 2026, Published August 31, 2026

Abstract

The rapid expansion of teledentistry has introduced important medico-legal challenges, while gaps in legal and ethical knowledge may compromise safe digital dental practice. Therefore, it is of interest to assess the knowledge and attitudes of 299 dental professionals, including staff members and post-graduate students, regarding medico-legal aspects of teledentistry in India. Female participants and staff members showed significantly higher knowledge scores, with gender and professional category significantly associated with both knowledge and attitudes (p<0.05). Participants showed awareness of malpractice, security and appropriate diagnostic practices, while attitudes toward workshops, curricular integration, jurisdiction and record keeping were predominantly positive. Thus, data shows the need for structured medico-legal training and integration of teledentistry-related legal and ethical principles into dental education and professional practice.

Keywords

Teledentistry, medicolegal issues, ethics

Citation

Madhu et al. Bioinformation 22(8): 5185-5189 (2026)

Edited by

Vini Mehta

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.