Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2022 - 21

PCSO News and Events
Advocacy and Legislative Update
Teledentistry Today and Tomorrow:
An Analysis of the Current Trends in
the Market and the Impact Emerging
Technologies Will Have on Dentistry
and Orthodontics
Dr. Jahnavi Rao
Chicago, IL
PCSO Bulletin Contributor
A tsunami of changes was brought upon the dental
industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless
of whether you were a patient, clinician, or a
business partner to an orthodontic office, it is without
doubt you felt the impact. The one bright light that
came through the pandemic was the emergence of
teledentistry as a diagnostic treatment option. With
no other recourse, state dental boards, insurance
companies, patients, and providers were forced to reconcile
with adopting teledentistry and the new digital
pathways that accommodate the quarantines to
provide access to care for patients. It can be safely said
that teledentistry as a treatment option is here to stay.
However, despite the tremendous interest in teledentistry
at the height of the pandemic, as time has
passed, data show that teledentistry as a service has
waned in use.
This article discusses the trends we can expect to see
in the near future from teledentistry and how patients
will react to this new service modality. Reviewing the
postpandemic data on telehealth use we found the
following:
□ Synchronous appointments (those with live
phone or video interaction between dentists and
their patients) saw a 3000% increase between
2019 and 2020, according to Delta Dental claims
during that period. Asynchronous appointments
(for which patients took photos or videos that
were sent to a dentist for later review) saw a
1000% increase in the same time period.
□ The use of teledentistry has declined as the pandemic
has worn on and dentist offices have reopened;
however, 2021's synchronous and asynchronous
appointment numbers still remain six times and two
times higher than 2019 levels, respectively.1
□ Multiple states updated their laws to allow
teledentistry, including Texas and Maine, which
earlier had laws in place that outright banned
teledentistry.
□ Dental insurers stepped up to the plate and
began offering coverage for teledentistry.
" TeleDentistry.com creates a safety net for Delta
Dental of Iowa members to know that they have
coverage beyond standard dental office hours
when their dentist may not be available or when
they are traveling, " said Jeff Russell, president and
CEO of Delta Dental of Iowa.2
So, with insurers offering teledentistry services to their
members and patients showing an increase in satisfaction
with telehealth care delivery models in general,1
what
does the future look like for teledentistry?
Teledentistry Trends
Rise of the Teledentistry Support Organization
A cursory internet search on teledentistry shows a
new model of dental practice emerging, the Teledentistry
Support Organization (TSO). This service acts as
a virtual wraparound for a dental practice providing
virtual support services to their practices. Just like
brick-and-mortar dental practices, there are different
models of TSOs in the marketplace, such as those of
Teledentistry.com3
and Teledentix.4
Value-Added Benefits
Dental insurance companies generally follow each
other in terms of product offerings, so one can safely
assume that when one company adopts a teledentistry
benefit that the others will do the same for fear of
being left at a competitive disadvantage. Hence, one
can expect every single major insurance carrier to roll
out a teledentistry benefit in the near future.
Clear Aligner Therapies
Patients can benefit from teledentistry when combined
with in-person care for clear aligner therapies.
New and innovative technologies such as remote
Spring 2022 PCSO Bulletin
21
http://TeleDentistry.com
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2022
