Improving Oral Health of Underserved and Vulnerable Populations Using Telehealth Technologies

Telehealth refers to the use of technology to provide health care at a distance. The important and increasing role of telehealth in the delivery of health care has been recognized for several decades. There is an extensive literature on the application and benefits of using telehealth to facilitate general health care. Although there are fewer reports on the use of telehealth to deliver oral health services, evidence is emerging that these technologies can enhance the ability of the oral health delivery system to reach vulnerable and underserved populations that not adequately served by the traditional office and clinic-based oral health delivery system.

To fully realize the potential for telehealth to improve the oral health of vulnerable populations, policy and delivery system reform are needed to ensure that telehealth delivered or enabled activities are reimbursed in parity with in-person activities that provide the same health service. What is also needed is the expansion of delivery systems that link geographically distributed provider teams and training of current and future providers to use telehealth technologies and work in these teams. New telehealth-enabled delivery systems will help ensure that vulnerable populations can gain access to the oral health care they need by extending the reach of dentists and other dental providers to locations where they are needed most.

This presentation will review the use of telehealth technologies to deliver oral health services and current implementations to improve oral health for vulnerable and underserved populations.