Chang Su-Wen, Plotkin Daniel R, Mulligan Roseann, Polido José C, Mah James K, Meara John G
University California, School of Dentistry, USA.
J Calif Dent Assoc. 2003 Aug;31(8):601-8.
Dentistry, in a synergistic combination with telecommunications technology and the Internet, has yielded a relatively new and exciting field that has endless potential. "Teledentistry" emerges from the fusion of dental practice and technology and can take on two forms--real-time consultation and "store and forward." The first entity to put teledentistry into practice was the Army, which, in 1994, successfully undertook consultations between dentists and service personnel located more than 100 miles apart. Since then, various institutions and organizations in the United States and farther afield have practiced teledentistry, with varying degrees of success. The Children's Hospital Los Angeles Teledentistry Project, being run in association with the University of Southern California's Mobile Dental Clinic, seeks to increase and enhance the quality of oral health care that is provided to children living in remote rural areas of California, areas often severely underserved by dental health providers. The project has three phases: Phase I involves the establishment and organization of the teledentistry network; Phase II will introduce technologies to provide orthodontic consultation and treatment; and Phase III will expand the network and provide increased specialty care into further areas of California and beyond, providing services to more children in desperate need of dental health care.
牙科与电信技术及互联网协同结合，催生了一个潜力无限、相对新颖且令人兴奋的领域。“远程牙科”源自牙科实践与技术的融合，有实时会诊和“存储转发”两种形式。首个将远程牙科付诸实践的是军队，1994年，军队成功实现了相距100多英里的牙医与服务人员之间的会诊。自那时起，美国及其他地区的各类机构和组织都开展了远程牙科实践，成效各异。洛杉矶儿童医院远程牙科项目与南加州大学移动牙科诊所合作开展，旨在提高并改善为居住在加利福尼亚偏远农村地区儿童提供的口腔保健质量，这些地区往往严重缺乏牙科医疗服务提供者。该项目分三个阶段：第一阶段涉及远程牙科网络的建立和组织；第二阶段将引入技术提供正畸会诊和治疗；第三阶段将扩大网络，并在加利福尼亚及其他地区提供更多专科护理，为更多急需牙科医疗服务的儿童提供服务。
