COVID-19 has presented a host of challenges for dental teams, among them the assessing and prioritising treatment for their patients when coming into a practice or clinic has not always been an option.
This has led to a rise on tele-oral medicine– see June 2020 issue of the ADA’s News Bulletin – and the creation of new item number on the Australian Schedule of Dental Services and Glossary for telehealth consultations, and now, thanks to Western Australian State Government funding designed to tackle COVID-19 health challenges.
The recipient of one of the funding grants for The University of Western Australia researchers, Professor Marc Tennant, is aiming to develop an app that would allow parents to photograph their children’s teeth and have them evaluated by a dental team.
As reported in Perth Now, the hope is that the app will play a role in ensuring “access to routine dental care and reduce unnecessary travel and waiting times.
“This approach has the potential to prioritise children based on their dental needs to receive appropriate treatment at the appropriate time,” Professor Tennant said.
“It will help to provide potentially low-cost and sustainable preventive dental care for children even during the pandemic.”
The app is among a range of funded research projects which include drawing up a program that would effectively deliver a COVID-19 vaccine to hard-to-reach communities.