Journal article
Asynchronous teledentistry program in two long-term care facilities: Iowa's virtual dental home pilot project
Special care in dentistry, Vol.45(1), e13074
01/2025
DOI: 10.1111/scd.13074
PMCID: PMC11628770
PMID: 39415413
Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access
Abstract
Older adults living in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) often have poor oral health and difficulty accessing dental services. The aim was to implement a virtual dental home (VDH) program for residents in two LTCFs utilizing asynchronous teledentistry techniques and mobile dental equipment.
This pilot project was a 6-month longitudinal cohort study in two LTCFs. Dental hygienists and dentists from a local community health care center utilized asynchronous teledentistry to provide diagnostic and preventive dental services onsite and to establish a dental home for additional comprehensive care services. Data were collected, including resident's demographics, oral health status, and dental services received. Descriptive data analyses, Wilcoxon signed rank, and McNemar tests were conducted.
Thirty-four residents completed in-person baseline oral exams and 16 residents completed the recall exams. Ninety-two percent (n = 23) of dentate residents (n = 25) had untreated caries and 64% (n = 16) of dentate residents had at least one sextant of severe gingival inflammation. The median number of teeth with active untreated caries (p = .01) significantly decreased and arrested caries (p = .02) significantly increased from baseline.
Iowa's VDH pilot project was successful in establishing a dental home using asynchronous teledentistry for residents in two LTCFs and providing resident access to preventive and disease control dental services.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Asynchronous teledentistry program in two long-term care facilities: Iowa's virtual dental home pilot project
- Creators
- Jennifer E Hartshorn - University of IowaPamela C Nwachukwu - University of IowaTessa Heeren - University of IowaMcAllister Castelaz - University of IowaTessa Johnson - Southeastern Community College - IowaChandler Pendleton - University of IowaPaul Glassman - California Northstate UniversitySteve M Levy - University of IowaJulie C Reynolds - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Special care in dentistry, Vol.45(1), e13074
- DOI
- 10.1111/scd.13074
- PMID
- 39415413
- PMCID
- PMC11628770
- NLM abbreviation
- Spec Care Dentist
- ISSN
- 1754-4505
- eISSN
- 1754-4505
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Grant note
- The authors are grateful to Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation for grant support for this project. Thank you to the Community Health Care Center for their dedication and partnership to the development and implementation of this novel program and to the LTCFs who participated in this project and their support to improve access to dental care for their residents.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 10/16/2024
- Date published
- 01/2025
- Academic Unit
- Preventive and Community Dentistry; Law, Health Policy and Disability Center; School of Social Work; Institute for Public Health Practice, Research and Policy; Dental Research
- Record Identifier
- 9984736746302771
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