Teledentistry

Board takeaway

• Purpose: Use teledentistry to improve access, gather information, counsel, and arrange timely in-person care when needed.
• Continuity: It complements the dental home.
• Requirements: Remote encounters still require appropriate consent, documentation, privacy safeguards, and compliance with the rules where services are delivered.

Match the modality to the encounter

When it helps

• Improve access for infants, children, adolescents, and individuals with special health care needs.
• Address rural or underserved locations, unexpected local disruptions, or difficulty participating in conventional services.
• Provide timely assessment and triage of traumatic injuries and consultation for other time-sensitive concerns.
• Improve access to specialists and multidisciplinary collaboration, including care for cleft lip and palate.
• Support continuity, oral hygiene instruction, dietary counseling, and nutrition education.
• May facilitate earlier detection and treatment of early childhood caries.
• Potential benefits include less travel, saved time, easier treatment planning, and cost-effective access. Acceptance among families and professionals is supported by the literature cited in the policy.

Decide what still needs an in-person visit

• The policy cites studies supporting reliability comparable to in-person examinations for dental, orthognathic, and oral surgery evaluations, including odontogenic infection recognition and management.
• It also cites support for valid treatment decisions from teledentistry examinations.
• When feasible, radiographs obtained in conjunction with the virtual encounter can improve diagnostic completeness.
• These findings do not establish that every condition can be fully assessed remotely or eliminate the policy's adjunct-to-in-person role.
• State what the available history, images, and examination can establish and what still requires an in-person assessment. Use the relevant clinical guidance to decide the urgency of that next step.

Consent, records, and privacy

• State statutes and case law govern teledentistry. Some states require licensure where the patient receives services; verify the applicable jurisdiction.
• Obtain consent and document according to state requirements.
• Record a thorough description of the encounter, comparable to documentation for an in-person visit.
• Protect patient information through security and privacy measures compliant with state and federal law.
• Review applicable licensure, documentation, and electronic security regulations before providing services.

Policy and implementation priorities

• AAPD calls for recognition by clinicians, patients, regulators, and payors of teledentistry's role in pediatric dentistry.
• Services should follow evidence-based recommendations from established expert organizations or agencies.
• AAPD advocates inclusion in health benefits with reimbursement comparable to in-person care; this is a policy position, not a guarantee of coverage.
• Further research, technology development, and state and national policy development are needed for wider implementation.

Common board traps

Answer aloud

How could teledentistry help a child far from a pediatric dentist?

Teledentistry can reduce travel barriers by supporting remote assessment, counseling, and consultation with a pediatric specialist.

• Use it to connect the child with appropriate care and continuing dental-home support, including an in-person visit when needed.
• It can extend access but cannot deliver every examination or procedure remotely.

What consent, privacy, and care arrangements are needed before a teledentistry visit?

Verify applicable licensure, obtain the required consent, document the encounter, and use appropriate information-security safeguards.

• The care should follow evidence-based standards, with a plan for in-person assessment or treatment when the remote visit cannot adequately meet the patient's needs.

Can teledentistry replace the office visit after trauma?

It can help obtain timely information and triage a dental injury, but it is an adjunct to in-person trauma care.

• Use the remote encounter to arrange the appropriate next step rather than assume it replaces examination, imaging, or treatment.
• This policy does not provide injury-specific treatment thresholds.

Is an uploaded dental photograph a synchronous visit?

No. A photograph sent for later assessment is asynchronous/store and forward.

• Synchronous care involves live two-way visual interaction.
• Mobile health supports behaviors/monitoring; remote patient monitoring transmits health data collected outside the clinic.
• Choose the modality for the task and document what still requires in-person evaluation.