Teledentistry is the use of information technology and telecommunications for dental care, consultation,[1] education, and public awareness (compare telehealth and telemedicine).
In the early nineteen nineties, videoconferencing, e-mail, fax, and telephone calls were used but more recently, video conferencing and high-quality image transfer have become easily accessible.
Direct-to-consumer orthodontics companies like SmileDirectClub also utilize teledentistry, but have drawn criticism regarding proper supervision of care.
In the US, several laws had been enacted to curb the rise of direct-to-consumer orthodontics which also invalidated the use of teledentistry by duly licensed dentists.
Teledentistry can also be used to assist general dentists with speciality work[9] and improve services to underserved populations such as in rural or less developed areas.
However, largely the dental insurance companies had not made these codes payable to dentists in the event that they were actually billed when a teledentistry service was rendered to a patient.