COVID-19 provides an opportunity for integration of dentistry into the health informatics system.
London SD, Fontelo P, Boroumand S, Dye BA
J Am Dent Assoc. 2022 Jan;153(1):3-8. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2021.11.003. Epub 2021 Nov 18.
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing dentistry in ways unseen since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s. These changes are broad and have encompassed temporary widespread closing of dental practices during the early months of the pandemic, using new protective measures that affect care delivery, and even transforming the perspective of dental care as an essential part of health care. Another effect of this pandemic is the changing view of the dental workforce and its potential integration into a health delivery system supporting the public’s health. This includes providing COVID-19 testing in dental offices, providing expertise and staffing in nursing homes, monitoring vital signs, transporting patients, tracking cases, and providing respiratory support in acute health care settings.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also provided an opportunity to examine how the oral health profession can interact with the health system in providing support for the effort to end the pandemic, including counseling patients with vaccine hesitancy and potentially providing patients with vaccines in their dental practices. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of timely access to oral health records to facilitate coordination of health care between dental and medical teams. However, counseling and providing vaccines, as well as improved health record interoperability, are not limited to this coronavirus event but have direct applicability for preventing and controlling other viral diseases, such as the seasonal influenza and human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Although many within the oral health care profession have received adequate training to participate in these important preventive activities, ongoing discussions focusing on permitted practice continue.
London SD, Fontelo P, Boroumand S, Dye BA. COVID-19 provides an opportunity for integration of dentistry into the health informatics system.
J Am Dent Assoc. 2022 Jan;153(1):3-8. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2021.11.003. Epub 2021 Nov 18.
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