Telehealth includes various telemedicine systems and modes of delivery that allow health services from a distance. This also includes teledentistry. Simply put, teledentistry provides dental care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, transfer of dental information, and more with the use of electronic information, imaging, and communication technologies.

Like telehealth, teledentistry can take the following forms:

The advantages of telemedicine accrue to both dentists & patients in the following ways:

On the dentists’ end, it takes away the need to supplement clinician staffing in far-flung areas while allowing them to expand their reach to patients beyond the reach of their offices. In fact, it reaches people who would otherwise postpone or delay dental care. With data being digitally delivered for diagnosis and necessary follow-up care protocols, convenience got a whole new name in teledentistry. Specialist interactions are also more streamlined, especially since documentation and imaging is available in a secure digital location.

What technology is necessary for teledentistry?

Teledentistry is, of course, driven by technology. The basic technology that needs to be in place includes:

Some of the features that would help dentists set up an effective teledentistry option include:

Some of the best practices to implement teledentistry also include:

When would you use teledentistry?

Teledentistry can be used both in an emergency, as well as in routine care solutions, although most emergencies would in all probability need an in-person visit. You will also require a dentist’s in-person visit for tooth extraction, or such services, which can’t be done online.

However, even in such situations, the tele-dental visit can help you manage your symptoms until your in-person appointment is scheduled.

Popular teledentistry services include emergency evaluations, post-operative, as well as non-emergency orthodontic evaluations.

In addition, oral health classes and preventive dental care can also benefit from teledentistry.

While teledentistry cannot fully replace in-person exams, or complex dental procedures, it is an important tool to provide oral health care, evaluations, and consultations. The comfortable process has seen to increase the number of patients opting to see dentists.

Shorter waiting times, as well as quicker access to prescription medicine are some of the advantages that accrue to patients. On the dentist’s end, it results in an improved ability to serve a wide range of patients, keeping resources under check, as well as improved revenues.

During the pandemic, of course, its advantages have been tried and tested. However, even beyond the pandemic, teledentistry holds great promise to increase access to dental care at a lower cost. Leveraging teledentistry in the right way can solve the rising concerns of patients and practices across the country and the world!

Dr. Sharda Patel runs a family dentistry practice in Pleasanton, CA. She is a graduate from the Tufts University of Dental Medicines.

She is a member of the American Dental Association, California Dental Association, and the American Dental Education Association.

She is thorough, caring, and dedicated to patient satisfaction and comfort.

You may find her reading a paperback on weekends.

FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay.

Avatar DentistryToday @dentistrytoday · 1h Regular contributor Roger P. Levin is back with a new piece about overhead for dental practices. https://www.dentistrytoday.com/will-overhead-continue-to-rise/ Twitter 1565776578394611712

Regular contributor Roger P. Levin is back with a new piece about overhead for dental practices. https://www.dentistrytoday.com/will-overhead-continue-to-rise/