Teledentistry: Improved accessibility to dental care

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• May 6, 2022

Insight summary

Teledentistry is emerging as a vital tool in enhancing dental care accessibility, offering a blend of virtual and in-person consultations to address various dental issues timely and potentially reducing the number of emergency room visits linked to oral health problems. While it brings convenience and expands the reach of dental services, it requires strengthened cybersecurity to protect sensitive patient data and ensure secure financial transactions. The trend is steering a transformation in the dental care landscape, encouraging the development of user-friendly platforms, reshaping dental education, and fostering new opportunities in the labor market.

Teledentistry context

Telehealth services include live video calls with healthcare providers, lab work interpretation, and remote patient monitoring. Telehealth has helped thousands of patients in non-emergency cases to receive appropriate treatment over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical experts and patients increasingly view dentistry as an ever-important part of their primary care, driving the growing popularity of teledentistry. 

Teledentistry refers to patients' online, remote appointments with their dentists to access oral healthcare. Many experts believe that teledentistry can be an essential adjunct to in-person dentist visits, with research indicating that most patients take up to three years to make an appointment with their dentist. In addition, patients often delay dental treatment until it becomes an emergency. For example, the Association of Ontario Health Centers in Canada reported 61,000 emergency room visits a year linked to oral health problems. 

Additionally, almost 4 percent of all emergency room visits are linked to dental issues, costing the healthcare industry and patients almost USD $2 billion a year. Such dental emergencies burden the healthcare system and may easily be avoided by timely visits to the dentist. Some experts believe that teledentistry may remove some of the hurdles patients face when making an appointment. For example, in some cases, patients from rural areas or low-income households may find teledentistry a better alternative than in-person visits. Similarly, teledentistry may improve accessibility for disabled and home-bound patients. 

Disruptive impact

Teledentistry could be a boon for individuals who have limited access to dental care, offering them a convenient way to receive timely advice and consultations without the need to travel long distances. While it is not expected to fully replace traditional dental visits due to the physical nature of most dental procedures, it can certainly complement them, allowing for a hybrid model of dental care that combines virtual consultations with in-person visits. This approach not only enhances the comfort and convenience for patients but also helps in reducing the apprehension associated with dental visits.

For dental practitioners and service providers, embracing teledentistry opens up a new avenue for revenue, where they can offer consultations from the comfort of their homes. However, this comes with the imperative to bolster cybersecurity measures to safeguard sensitive patient data and secure financial transactions from potential cyber-attacks. Companies venturing into this space may need to prioritize investments in secure and user-friendly platforms to foster trust and reliability among users. 

Looking at the broader picture, governments and policy makers may need to acknowledge the potential of teledentistry in enhancing healthcare accessibility in underserved regions. By fostering partnerships with teledentistry providers, they can work towards bridging the gap in dental care accessibility, especially in remote and low-income areas. Moreover, educational institutions tasked with training future dentists can incorporate teledentistry in their curriculum, equipping students with the necessary skills to operate in a digital healthcare landscape.

Implications of teledentistry

Wder implications of teledentistry may include:

• Software development companies venturing into the creation of platforms and programs tailored for dental practices and firms offering dental services, fostering a digital ecosystem that offer more interactive and personalized dental care experiences.
• Dentistry associations creating a registry of professionals skilled in teledentistry technology, safeguarding the public from unqualified advice and ensuring a standard of quality and reliability in the services offered.
• A notable decrease in dental care costs for patients as they leverage teledentistry consultations to learn and adopt better oral hygiene practices.
• Dentists experiencing lower overhead costs when initiating a teledentistry practice, which not only diversifies their revenue streams but also can potentially lead to competitive pricing strategies.
• Governments potentially crafting policies to facilitate the integration of teledentistry in public healthcare systems, which could be a step towards ensuring universal access to dental care.
• A shift in dental education curricula to include comprehensive training on teledentistry, preparing the next generation of dentists to be adept in virtual consultations.
• The environmental benefit of reduced carbon footprint as a result of fewer people needing to travel for dental consultations.
• Labor markets witnessing a shift with the creation of new roles such as teledentistry coordinators or technicians.
• A potential rise in self-employment opportunities for dental professionals as they can offer consultations from anywhere, leading to a more flexible work environment. 

Questions to consider

• Do you think the government should monitor and regulate teledentistry applications? 
• How effective do you believe dentists can be when seeking to diagnose ailments or dental problems using teledentistry technology?