Application of teledentistry in every day dental practice

Teledentistry (TD) is a relatively new field of dental medicine that combines information technology, such as electronic information and imaging, with telecommunications, such as video, audio, and data, to provide better dental care, consultation, and education. The current COVID-19 pandemic has increased global TD awareness and implementation. In this article, we will discuss the various modalities of teledentistry, such as synchronous TD (real-time interactive technologies), asynchronous (store and forward information), remote patient monitoring (connected tools for oral health monitoring), and mobile health care services (smartphone applications and text messages), and how they are used in various areas of dentistry. TD is used in pediatric dentistry to screen for early childhood caries, dentoalveolar trauma, and other oral diseases. Oral surgery implements teleconsultation to assess the patient's health prior to surgery. Teledentistry is applied in the specialty of oral medicine to diagnose or prevent oral lesions. Prosthodontics uses TD for instruction in the fabrication of overdentures in rural clinics, as well as communication with a remote dental technician laboratory. Because of technological advancements, teledentistry is becoming more popular in orthodontics to consult with and monitor patients without having to visit dentists. The most common types of online communication technology used in orthodontics are virtual consultation and artificial intelligence (AI)-based treatment monitoring methods with photos or videos. Today, dentists frequently use TD for continuing dental education in the form of webinars, online courses, interactive videoconferences, dental chat rooms, and so on. Teledentistry is the most efficient and cost-effective method of connecting rural and urban health communities. It has a promising future and will be further developed to improve patient oral health services