Delivering dental care in rural schools using telehealth
Telehealth can be used by dentists to provide care to children in a rural school.
By the age of 8, over half of children in the U.S. have had a cavity. Cavities and dental disease can affect children’s education. Telehealth is a tool that may help increase access to oral health care.
The University of California San Francisco’s School of Dentistry is training dental residents to use telehealth. Both a dental assistant and hygienist see each child in person at their school. They document the child’s dental needs. This information is sent to people training to be a children’s dentist, called a pediatric dental resident. These residents are overseen by dentists. The dental residents review the information and create a dental care treatment plan. The school-based dental team in the rural area then uses this plan to provide care.
The school-based dental team offers a full range of services. This includes x-rays, assessments, cleanings, and fluoride treatment. Some children need more advanced care. These children are referred to community dentists. However, the community dentists may not be able to see the child for several months. The school dental team provides treatment to prevent cavities from getting worse during this time. “If we can bring dentistry to children at the school [through telehealth], we can at least keep them healthy and reduce the need to go to the dentist.”
“If we can bring dentistry to children at the school [through telehealth], we can at least keep them healthy and reduce the need to go to the dentist.”
Dental residents learn how to provide virtual dental care.
The school-based team also helps students understand the importance of dental health. The number of children needing advanced dental care has decreased over the past four years since the program began. In addition, because the program uses telehealth, dental residents learn how to provide virtual dental care.
There have been some challenges with delivering dental care virtually. The program views these as an opportunity to expand the skills of dentists treating children living in rural areas. Some children need care that requires special skills. To address this, the project team aims to set up virtual training programs to teach community dentists new skills. Moving forward, the program is thinking about new opportunities to train community dentists and use telehealth.