In this modern age, the field of health care and technology has come together quite successfully when considering online dentist services or teledentistry. In the last 30 years, technology has rapidly evolved to help people’s lives in several ways, as in online shopping and e-commerce, and now more and more are resorting to virtual health care.
Teledentistry has become an amazing field where it is reaching the same as telehealth medicine. Online dentist services through chat are now a work in progress.
For individuals who cannot make a personal office visit or requires a diagnosis to identify needed treatments, online dentist services may be a helpful option. This newest approach to dentistry allows patients to consult with their dentist and allow the dentist to offer expert advice utilizing videoconferencing applications or software and smart gadgets.
Making use of online dentist service tools allows dental office teams to give personalized care and dental diagnoses to their patients when a personal visit is not feasible or limited as during the pandemic.
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What Can Be Expected from Online Dentist Services?
In online dentistry, a dentist makes use of phone, text messages, or videoconferencing calls to provide a virtual consultation to patients and allows the online dentist to diagnose and address dental problems. Online dentist appointments can help determine if a patient needs to pay a personal visit to the dental clinic. Dental office appointments can then be scheduled through phone calls or online to discuss problems further. Some online dentist services and tools even allow clients to receive expert advice without prior appointment, which is convenient for busy patients.
What Conditions Can an Online Dentist Manage?
An online dentist can determine by consultation certain conditions whether it is an emergency dental problem or not and can give instructions on how to treat dental conditions. For conditions like a cracked or chipped tooth, small cavity, jaw pain, soft tissue lesion, or similar non-emergency cases, consulting an online dentist through phone call or video may work. For urgent treatments needing immediate attention though, an in-clinic visit may be more appropriate and must be scheduled as soon as possible.
Steps in Using Online Dentist Services
For patients with insurance plans, make sure to check the details of the plan to see what is covered. Some robust insurances cover online dentist consultations and even cover problem-focused examinations.
Once it is determined that remote, online dentist care is more convenient, here are some actionable steps to proceed:
- Contact the preferred dental office to find out if online dentist services are offered, how they are scheduled, and how consultations are set up. More often than not, the use of software or apps is utilized. Through some apps or software, assistance from other online dentists other than your own can be possible.
- Check if the technology like mobile apps or videoconferencing software for video and audio communication with the online dentist is properly installed or is available in the device to be used.
- Fill out any required online forms or paperwork for the online dentist consultation. Sure enough, these documents may include personal information forms, patient consent, and new patient form for first-timers.
- Even online dental patients have their rights. It is a must to be educated on the HIPAA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act guidelines to protect one’s privacy and confidentiality of personal and health information.
What an Online Dentist Can Recommend and Prescribe
More and more people are consulting with an online dentist because they find the time and place of appointment convenient. Any American with broadband access wanting remote care can prefer so online or through the telephone. More importantly, a lot of patients prefer an online dentist who can prescribe medications especially for pressing dental health issues. But one has to ask what an online dentist can prescribe for their patients.
Medications for Providing Quick Relief for Acute Pain
A lot of times, toothaches only require prescription pain medication to ease the feeling. Patients do not need to go to the nearest ER department and get medications for their tooth pain. With an online dentist consultation, they are free to ask their dentist any time of the day. The dental practitioner can prescribe them the pain reliever needed to address the pain or underlying infection.
Antibiotic Medications
The most common medications prescribed by an online dentist are antibacterial drugs for tooth infections or abscesses. This is rather fortunate because we know antibiotics cannot just be bought over-the-counter. If the online dentist uncovers an existing tooth infection or an abscessed tooth, they can give a prescription for antibiotics to treat the existing further forming of pus in the mouth due to a bacterial infection.
Although not all tooth infections require the intervention of antibiotics, these drugs are usually prescribed when there is a severe abscess that has spread to other teeth. Also, patients who have a weak immune system will need it more.
An online dentist will have to properly examine a patient before prescribing antibiotics though. Therefore, during the online appointment, patients will have to submit photos of their teeth and mouth. Both parties can also agree to video call for a more accurate picture of the dental concern. This means that patients and the online dentist will also have to chat one-on-one. This way, the online dentist can have a look at the patient’s tooth of concern by focusing the camera on that tooth. Then, when the online dentist is confident of the findings, he can now give appropriate advice and perhaps an antibiotic prescription when necessary.
Still, an in-office visit remains to be a surer means of obtaining accurate diagnosis and care. When pain persists after the online appointment. The in-office appointment may be on the way. Perhaps, a root canal treatment may be needed, or worse, the affected tooth or teeth may need to be taken out as root canal treatment is not plausible. Additionally, when the tooth has pus, the dentist most surely will have to drain the abscess and make a small cut in the gums. This is a temporary solution but one that can only be done during in-office visits.
