TELEDENTISTRY is now very much part of oral health care.
This is shown by the Teledentistry Innovation Awards, on its third year in February, which recognized innovators in the field.
Known as the “Tellies”, the awards highlight dental professionals and organizations bringing telehealth to dental care and the positive impacts they make.
“2020 presented significant challenges to dentistry and the world at large, but the year also marked a time of unprecedented growth and innovation in teledentistry,” said Brant Herman, CEO and founder of MouthWatch, the developer of the teledentistry platform TeleDen which created the awards.
During the online virtual event, the awardees described how teledentistry made a difference to their patient communities
The video interviews are available at teledentistryinnovationawards.com/2020Live.
The five 2020 Tellies recipients are:
Dr. Scott Howell of AT Still University/Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health. Award Category: Dentist/Specialist.
Dr. Howell developed a robust oral health program at the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health which has trained over 300 students in teledentistry. Students learn about how they can use the technology to reach a diverse patient population and evaluate digital records collected via teledentistry.
Jingjing Qian of EAYour Special Smiles received the award in the Dental Hygiene category.
Ms. Qian and her dentist, Dr. Brooke Fukuoka, developed the Guided Oral Hygiene Program. Caregivers were trained on how to gather information via teledentistry and then leveraged live teledentistry interactions to help caregivers with patient-specific oral hygiene regimens.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the teledentistry-enabled touchpoint was the only dental service many of these patients received for months.
The University of Rochester Eastman Institute for Oral Health and Dr. Sean McLaren received the award for the Oral Health Program category.
The University of Rochester Eastman Institute for Oral Health has published significant studies on teledentistry.
Its accomplishments also include real-world implementations of teledentistry in oral health programs that provide care to underserved patients in the Greater Rochester, New York region.
The university’s innovative deployment of teledentistry is part of its long experience and successful track record in designing, implementing and sustaining community-based oral health programs – including outreach programs that have been replicated nationwide.
Dr. Barry Raphael of The Raphael Center for Integrative Orthodontics was awarded for the COVID-19 Response-Provider category.
During the pandemic’s peak, many dental clinicians momentarily suspended dental procedures and maintenance appointments because face-to-face interactions posed a very real risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Dr. Raphael, a practicing orthodontist for over 30 years, decided to innovate. He implemented teledentistry to reduce risk while maintaining patient contact, including developing new ways to provide patient education and monitoring via teledentistry.
Advantage Dental from DentaQuest Care Group was awarded for the COVID-19 Response-Oral Health Program category.
Teledentistry was long supported through Advantage Dental’s outreach and mobile programs. The recent teledentistry rollout across their over 80 practice locations were crucial in addressing urgent care needs during COVID-19.
Through virtual consultations facilitated with their providers and member service representatives, patients had easy access to experienced clinical assistance when practices were open only for emergencies.
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim is the former Associate Dean of the UE College of Dentistry, former Dean of the College of Dentistry, National University, past president and honorary fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy, and honorary fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists. Honorary Life Member of Thai Association of Dental Implantology. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-8591515./PN
