Teledentistry

Teledentistry is the use of information technology and telecommunications for dental care, consultation, education, and public awareness (compare telehealth and telemedicine). Teledentistry is the use of information technology and telecommunications for dental care, consultation, education, and public awareness (compare telehealth and telemedicine). In 1994, the Department of Defence introduced the Total Dental Access Program (TDA) for the Army. The goals of TDA were to increase soldier’s access to care and reduce associated costs. At the time, they used what was called the plain-old-telephone-system (POTS). In the early nineteen nineties, videoconferencing, e-mail, fax, and telephone calls were used but more recently, video conferencing and high-quality image transfer have become easily accessible. These, and the considerable improvements in digital camera technology, have provide radical new opportunities. Nearly a third of all Americans don’t visit a dentist regularly enough, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. There are many reasons for this, most notably; affordability, access and fear. Teledentistry can provide easier, cheaper and less intimidating way to connect with dentistry. Teledentistry can also be used to assist general dentists with speciality work and improve services to underserved populations such as in rural or less developed areas.