Should dental schools adopt teledentistry in their curricula? Two viewpoints.

Abstract

Teledentistry is a cutting edge technology that could be used to improve access to care to underserved populations and those in remote areas. To discuss the advantages and disadvantages of adopting teledentistry into the predoctoral dental curriculum. Two teams of dentists reviewed the pros and cons of introducing teledentistry into the predoctoral dental curriculum. Viewpoint 1 produced evidence that teledentistry is a cutting-edge technology that can improve access to care for underserved populations in a practical, cost-effective manner. Viewpoint 2 showed evidence that teledentistry is too new to have an evidence base to support its widespread use, legal and regulatory requirements have not been established and there is no precedent for third party payers to reimburse for this service. The authors feel that a national teledentistry policy should be developed starting at the state level with stakeholders from the dental profession, dental education, government, patient advocates, and third party payers working together to determine the best way forward.