Danesh David O, Luca Jennifer, Kalady Skyler E, Townsend Janice A, Hammersmith Kim J, Meyer Beau D
J Am Dent Assoc. 2025 Feb;156(2):144-150. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2024.11.007. Epub 2024 Dec 17.
Health care emissions account for approximately 8.5% of total US domestic greenhouse gas emissions. Staff member and patient travel is the largest contributor to dental office-related emissions, and this number has been increasing. One approach to reduce such emissions is to use telehealth instead of in-person office visits.
This pilot retrospective cross-sectional study included all children who completed a teledentistry visit from November 15, 2022, through June 23, 2023 in a pediatric dentistry clinic. Electronic health record data collected included age, race and ethnicity, insurance type, preferred language, and street address. Patient miles and travel time saved were calculated using mapping software. Emissions prevented were calculated using a miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency of 25 miles per gallon and 8.82 kg of carbon dioxide (CO) produced per gallon of gasoline consumed (standard US Environmental Protection Agency ratios).
For the 101 patient visits, teledentistry saved 13,822.1 patient miles of round-trip travel distance, with a mean of 136.9 miles saved (range, 5.4-309.5 miles), and more than 15,000 minutes of round-trip drive time, with a mean of 150.3 minutes saved (range, 14.8-318.6 minutes), and resulted in 552.9 fewer gallons of gasoline consumed and 4,875.4 fewer kilograms of CO emissions from gasoline consumption than in-person clinic visits. Most reduced carbon emissions realized were contributed from patients living in rural communities.
Teledentistry consultations reduced patient miles traveled and drive time traveled and resulted in fewer kilograms of CO emissions and fewer gallons of gasoline used.
Teledentistry is a tool for patients and contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste in dentistry.
医疗保健排放约占美国国内温室气体排放总量的8.5%。工作人员和患者的出行是牙科诊所相关排放的最大贡献者，且这一数字一直在增加。减少此类排放的一种方法是使用远程医疗而非亲自到诊所就诊。
这项试点回顾性横断面研究纳入了2022年11月15日至2023年6月23日在一家儿科牙科诊所完成远程牙科就诊的所有儿童。收集的电子健康记录数据包括年龄、种族和族裔、保险类型、首选语言和街道地址。使用地图软件计算患者节省的里程数和出行时间。通过使用每加仑25英里的燃油效率以及每消耗一加仑汽油产生8.82千克二氧化碳（CO）（美国环境保护局标准比率）来计算避免的排放量。
在这101次患者就诊中，远程牙科节省了13822.1患者英里的往返旅行距离，平均节省136.9英里（范围为5.4 - 309.5英里），以及超过15000分钟的往返驾驶时间，平均节省150.3分钟（范围为14.8 - 318.6分钟），与亲自到诊所就诊相比，减少了552.9加仑汽油消耗以及4875.4千克汽油消耗产生的CO排放量。实现的大部分碳减排来自生活在农村社区的患者。
远程牙科咨询减少了患者的出行里程和驾驶时间，并减少了二氧化碳排放量和汽油使用量。
远程牙科是一种对患者有益的工具，有助于减少牙科领域的温室气体排放和浪费。
