Teledentistry Is an Effective Tool to Triage Patients & Save Money

Published 12/10/2020

Little evidence exists regarding oral health outcomes for patients after a teledentistry visit. To address this gap, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health used the IBM Watson MarketScan Medicaid Database to examine outpatient dental claims data for Medicaid enrollees, specifically looking at dental services utilization patterns and rate of return following a teledentistry visit for the entire year of 2018.

Key findings from the brief:

  • Seven in 10 patients had an in-person dental visit within a week of their teledentistry visit.
  • Among patients who returned for an in-person visit following their teledentistry visit, only 1% of these patients returned for an emergency dental visit.
  • The cost of treating patients via teledentistry totals 11% ($75) less annually than dental patients seen in person.

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