teledentistry

=Teledentistry=

Term:
Teledentistry

**Description**:
Teledentistry is a way to provide dental care such as diagnosis, consulting, treatment planning, etc. remotely through the use of information technology. Using cameras, printers, a desktop, and ethernet lines, a dental specialist from across the country can have a close-up view of a patient's teeth, and provide their expert opinion from the comfort of their own home or office.

In many cases, digital images, drawings, and diagrams are transmitted via the internet to a specialist, and the specialist will then return a confidential consultation report after a time-based fee.

**Government Involvement:**
The U.S. Department of Defense assisted in implementing a program in various clinics throughout the nation and some in international locations such as Europe. Specially trained experts would review and analyze data given to them and give out proper diagnosis and solutions. This process is being called the Total Dental Access (TDA) plan, which has the goal of making teledentistry a more active area of the health care industry.

**Application:**
- Rare dental cases can be examined by specialists without the need for any travel - Tough dental decisions can be cross-checked to ensure that all the available options are present - Training can be provided to dentists

Web Resources:
http://www.dental.ufl.edu/offices/teledentistry/ http://www.biohealthmatics.com/healthinformatics/telemedicine/teledent.aspx http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11323836

Related Terminology:

 * Telehealth** - Telehealth relates to the use of telecommunication equipment and computing technology to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health concerns and health care administration.

Citations:
http://www.biohealthmatics.com/healthinformatics/telemedicine/teledent.aspx