7 most common services, 3 key modalities for teledentistry appointments

Dentists have rapidly increased their use of teledentistry since the pandemic began, and 86 percent of patients reported being satisfied with the overall teledentistry experience, according to survey results released Nov. 19 by the DentaQuest Partnership.

In August, DentaQuest Partnership surveyed 2,767 dental providers in more than 20 states about their teledentistry usage.

According to the survey, dentists who used teledentistry to treat patients reported providing the following seven services virtually:

1. Painkiller or antibiotic prescription (72 percent)
   
   
2. Patient triage (63 percent)
   
   
3. Referral facilitation (52 percent)
   
   
4. Visual examinations (48 percent)
   
   
5. COVID-19 patient screenings (38 percent)
   
   
6. Patient evaluation for risk of disease (38 percent)
   
   
7. Oral hygiene instructions (37 percent)

Dentists reported providing these services through the following three modalities:

1. Telephone calls (60 percents)
   
   
2. Free virtual meeting software, such as FaceTime, Zoom and Google Meets (42 percent)
   
   
3. Paid teledentistry software (29 percent)

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