Tele-Dentistry:  The initial concept of tele-dentistry developed as part of the blueprint for dental informatics, which was drafted at a 1989 conference funded by the Westinghouse Electronics Systems Group in Baltimore. The birth of teledentistry as a subspecialist field of telemedicine can be linked to 1994 and a military project of the United States Army (U.S. Army's Total Dental Access Project), aiming to improve patient care, dental education, and effectuation of the communication between dentists and dental laboratories. This military project demonstrated that tele-dentistry reduced total patient care costs, extending dental care to distant and rural areas and offering complete information required for deeper analyses.
Tele-dentistry is a combination of telecommunications and dentistry involving the exchange of clinical information and images over remote distances for dental consultation and treatment planning. The field of dentistry has seen extensive technologic innovations in recent years. Advances have been made in the use of computers, telecommunication technology, digital diagnostic imaging services, devices and software for analysis and follow-up.
Using advanced information technology, the science of dentistry, today, has crossed much longer distances than it was ever able to. New information technology has not only improved the quality of management of dental patients, but also has made possible their partial or complete management at distances of thousands of kilometers away from healthcare centers or qualified dentists.

      Bringing dental care access to more patients - including those that          have been historically underserved
     Making patients feel more comfortable and welcome in the dental           care setting with an introductory phone or video call. This helps with:
   Reducing traditional barriers to care, such as transportation
    Reviewing and resolving cost concerns patients may have
     Making space to share dental fears and practice trauma-informed care
    Reducing stress for the patient/caregiver and care teams by discussing any necessary accommodations for the in-person visit ahead of time
   Providing oral health care to patients more quickly and efficiently by:
Improving care coordination and communication between the provider or office and patient/caregiver and other providers in the care team
   Reducing the number of in person appointments, as well as missed patient visits
​  Providing a pathway for integrating oral health and overall health by increasing provider to provider virtual consultation

Our organization implements tele-dentistry to improve the accessibility rate of oral health programs among the low socio-economic communities. Our team members will follow up with the community members to inquire about their experiences of recent dental visits and to collect the data of the quality of services provided to them with our satisfaction surveys. The model would be useful to enhance the interaction between the provider and patients and also would improve the dental services.