You've heard of telemedicine. But you may be asking yourself, "how can dentistry be tele? They can't virtually clean my teeth or virtually do a filling!"
You're right. We can't do procedures virtually, just like an ENT can't remove your tonsils via telemedicine. But dentistry is moving to a medical model from a surgical one. There is much more to dentistry now than just "drill and fill." And teledentistry can play a huge role in that medical model. Here's how:
Teledentistry's roles:
Prevention: Teledentistry's obvious benefits of scheduling flexibility/visits from home, etc. allow for patient education and monitoring at much reduced cost - keeping you healthy and living smart. If a patient is utilizing teledental appointments, it may reduce the frequency with which they "need" to go to the actual office for check-ups/cleanings.
Accessibility: Of course we're you're 24/7 dentist, your on-demand dentist. But more than just that, teledentistry can be a huge benefit to public health, increasing access to care - being available to patients in places where there aren't any dentists. Because we're affordable, as your kid's online dentist we can serve populations regardless of whether you have dental insurance or could normally go to a dentist.
Triage: For minor issues you can often prevent the need for an in-office visit just by giving us a call. The trick is "what is a minor issue?" - that's what we're to determine. What we've found is that what many parents consider a "major" issue, doesn't necessitate an in-office visit. Beyond the question of major/minor - there's the public health aspect: previous research has found there are ~2 million ER visits each year that are dental related, and the majority of those (~1.6 million) could be diverted from the ER. We can help with that - keeping you out of the ER altogether and getting you into a dental office if you need.
If you have questions about teledentistry, reach out to us at drmike@myteletooth.com. And if you're ready for a consultation, give us a call!