Teledentistry

Modern technology has changed the face of teledentistry. Once a means of getting advice, by picking up the phone and calling an expert, now teledentistry involves consulting with experts via the Internet.

Since 1994, teledentistry has enabled dental professionals to communicate with each other over long distances. A dentist can seek input from a professional in another city, state or even country simply by scanning and electronically transmitting office notes, X-rays, diagrams and photographs to a specialist who will review the documents and render a confidential consultation report to the dentist or physician requesting help.

The expert often charges a fee based on the time spent reviewing the materials and putting an opinion in writing. Proponents of teledentistry say that the information-sharing format is a way to help dentists better serve their patients and increase their own knowledge along the way.

Patient Benefits

Teledentistry is great for patients in rural areas who need to see a dental specialist but might have difficulty traveling. For example, the University of Minnesota enables patients to “see” a dental specialist via a direct video-conference. The dental specialist performs a live consultation to address the patient's condition. Then the specialist, the patient's dentist or the dentist at a local teledentistry clinic performs the actual treatment for the patient. Follow-up can be arranged at the University of Minnesota if necessary.

Security

Keeping confidential information confidential in teledentistry often is a concern for patients and dentists alike. Many systems are set up to allow referring dentists to log into a secure web server, where they enter patient information. The specialist is notified of the referral and subsequently logs into the secure web server to review the information and suggest a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Software companies have developed systems for teledentistry that encrypt information so that even if it is intercepted, it cannot be read.