Smile for the Camera: Telemedicine Comes to Your Local Dentist's Office

Dentistry has faced the same access issues that have spurred telemedicine development in other fields. However, until recently dentistry has lagged behind in adopting telemedicine. The findings of the Association of Telemedicine Service Provider’s (ATSP; www.atsp.org) 1998 Report on US Telemedicine Activity, done collaboratively with Telemedicine Today Magazine, are instructive. Out of nearly 32,000 teleconsults among 139 U.S. programs performed in 1^st quarter 1998, only 200 were dental teleconsults–and all of these were done by one program. Although that figure represents a significant increase over the 4 dental teleconsults reported in 1997, teledentistry has a long way to go. The first steps are now being taken.