The five 2020 Tellies recipients are:
Dr. Scott Howell of AT Still University/Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health. Award Category: Dentist/Specialist.
Dr. Howell developed a robust oral health program at the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health which has trained over 300 students in teledentistry. Students learn about how they can use the technology to reach a diverse patient population and evaluate digital records collected via teledentistry.
Jingjing Qian of EAYour Special Smiles received the award in the Dental Hygiene category.
Ms. Qian and her dentist, Dr. Brooke Fukuoka, developed the Guided Oral Hygiene Program. Caregivers were trained on how to gather information via teledentistry and then leveraged live teledentistry interactions to help caregivers with patient-specific oral hygiene regimens.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the teledentistry-enabled touchpoint was the only dental service many of these patients received for months.
The University of Rochester Eastman Institute for Oral Health and Dr. Sean McLaren received the award for the Oral Health Program category.
The University of Rochester Eastman Institute for Oral Health has published significant studies on teledentistry.
Its accomplishments also include real-world implementations of teledentistry in oral health programs that provide care to underserved patients in the Greater Rochester, New York region.
The university’s innovative deployment of teledentistry is part of its long experience and successful track record in designing, implementing and sustaining community-based oral health programs – including outreach programs that have been replicated nationwide.
Dr. Barry Raphael of The Raphael Center for Integrative Orthodontics was awarded for the COVID-19 Response-Provider category.
During the pandemic’s peak, many dental clinicians momentarily suspended dental procedures and maintenance appointments because face-to-face interactions posed a very real risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Dr. Raphael, a practicing orthodontist for over 30 years, decided to innovate. He implemented teledentistry to reduce risk while maintaining patient contact, including developing new ways to provide patient education and monitoring via teledentistry.
Advantage Dental from DentaQuest Care Group was awarded for the COVID-19 Response-Oral Health Program category.
Teledentistry was long supported through Advantage Dental’s outreach and mobile programs. The recent teledentistry rollout across their over 80 practice locations were crucial in addressing urgent care needs during COVID-19.
Through virtual consultations facilitated with their providers and member service representatives, patients had easy access to experienced clinical assistance when practices were open only for emergencies.
