During the current pandemic, teledentistry has provided patients with timely access to care. Technology has the power to advance the dental care system in myriad ways.

The amalgamation of technology and public health will not only facilitate the great hike to the new era of medicine but will also prevent the healthcare industry from its downfall. Let’s take dental care, for instance. There’s no doubt that the outburst of COVID-19 has dismayed the field of dentistry. The entire dental care delivery system paused and the dentists, as well as the people with dental problems, suffered a huge loss.

But where there’s a will there’s a way! Communicating about health interventions and health concerns through certain technological innovations can increase awareness and accessibility to treatment. Teledentistry offers a promising solution.

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Remote working

Teledentistry is the definite need of the hour as the intermingling of telecommunication and modern technologies give strength to the doctor-patient relationship. During the current pandemic, it has provided patients with timely access to dental professionals, regardless of challenging workspace issues.

The dentist communicates with the patient through a safe portal and makes note of the patient’s details, specific reasons for consultation, chief complaints, and provisional diagnosis information. The doctor may also attach the digital intraoral images and scanned digital dental radiographs if needed. The treatment plan is made accordingly.

Teledentistry can aid in the improvement of the dental care system in many ways:

* By bringing a wide range of dental services within the reach of clinics and community health centres in rural as well as urban areas.

* By providing a more patient-centric approach to dental care, through healthcare facilities over the internet.

* By making early diagnosis and timely treatment more feasible.

* By building cost-effective healthcare delivery models.

* By facilitating electronically-managed and well-organised patient history forms, appointment scheduling, referrals, reports and patient concerns.

Doing more

An online dental health survey found that many people with dental problems were unable to get themselves treated during the lockdown. In the absence of proper guidance, treatments have been delayed.

We need to adapt educational aids – auditory aids, visual aids and the combination of audio-visual aids – to help with health promotion. With strict compliance of central advisories, such as maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, proper handwashing techniques, keeping a check on the body temperature, healthcare professionals must spread greater awareness among the public.

Whether it’s addressing the public through radio programmes about the importance of dental hygiene or using social media to bust dental myths and espouse preventive measures, we need more transparent and open communication on dental health. How about using folk songs and puppet shows on online platforms to spread the word?

We can also look at dedicated virtual webinars, seminars and workshops on dental health. The idea is to get experts from different areas to come together and work efficiently as a team.

In rural areas, where the majority of our nation’s population resides, community leaders and local NGOs must be encouraged to drive home the message of dental care. We should also look at training ASHA (accredited social health activist) workers to ensure that the benefits of teledentistry are not limited to the urban population.

(The author is a practising dentist at Seema Dental College & Hospital, Rishikesh, India.)