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Mobile Dentistry – A mobile food truck is well known by all people in the world, now it’s time we talk about the Mobile Dentistry. What is it? How effective it can be?

What is Mobile Dentistry ?

Mobile dentistry means that your dental equipment can be moved from place to place, in a bus, truck, trailer, airplane, boat, ship or some such transport. Portability and mobility are two different things. A portable dental unit is one, which you can fold up and carry in your hands to another location. A mobile dental unit is one that can be moved to another location, but probably not physically carried.¹ Mobile dental delivery systems (MDDSs) are receiving growing interest for reaching isolated patients, as well as in dental care for fragile and hospitalized patients, with the advantage of being able to be used from room to room or during general anesthesia (GA) in an operating room. Therefore, ensuring the care safety is crucial.² the term portable and mobile dentistry (PMD) describes the use of portable dental equipment only, mobile dental units only, or their combination. Historically, PMD use had been limited to certain states with large rural populations and almost exclusively in the non-profit sector.³

Although mobile and portable oral health programs initially focused on children in schools and Head Start programs, many now serve adults and the elderly, especially those in nursing homes or with unstable housing, those with developmental disabilities or other special needs, those with limited transportation, and those who otherwise lack access to private dental practices.⁴The Examples of Potentially Effective Mobile Clinic Sites: Nursing home, Inner city school Oral Health Projects, Headstart and Migrant Project, Rural and remote communities, etc.⁵

PMD (Portable and Mobile Dentistry) offers many benefits to the patients as well. Being treated on site (at work, school, or other) means minimal interruption to their day. Additionally, dental anxiety may be reduced because, rather than being in a dentist’s o_ce, care is received in an environment that may be more familiar to the patient – there may be less opportunity for “white coat fever” to occur, as patients are away from the traditional dentists’ o_ce. While we recognize that a lifelong relationship with a dentist in a traditional o_ce may be more familiar and comfortable than a PMD setting, the PMD setting may prove more comfortable for some patients.³

As with all practices, there are shortcomings. Treating residential patients requires more time and patience than treating those in an office. Travel and consultation times reduce the number of daily patients. Equipment requires movement to and from a car, and sterilization procedures are performed elsewhere. Flexibility is essential as dental treatment plans are secondary to medical requirements. The area in which a procedure is performed may be more difficult to keep clean and sterile. These are obvious problems, but in comparison to a complete lack of care, the shortcomings can be overcome.⁶

Also Read Dental Clinic, The Best Time to Visit in The Middle of Pandemic

Resources:

https://www.worlddentalrelief.com/book/Chpt%2015%20Mobile%20Dentistry.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7084903/
Gupta S., Hakim M., Patel D., Stow L.C., Shin K., Timothe P., Nalliah R.P. Reaching Vulnerable Populations through Portable and Mobile Dentistry- Current and Future Opportunities. J. 2019, 7, 75. MDPI
Oral Health Workforce Research Center. An Assesment of Mobile and Portable Dentistry Programs to Improve Population Oral Health. University at Albany. 2017. US
Hight A. Mobile Dental Clinics: What Works, What to Watch and What to Avoid. Sullivan-Shcein Dental
https://www.dentaleconomics.com/macro-op-ed/article/16389735/challenges-and-potential-rewards-for-mobile-dentistryy

Dental Clinic Bali – This pandemic has been giving a lot of obstacles and pressures to everyone including Dentists. The guidance and setting in Dental office also have been set up to minimize the cross infection or transmission of this Covid-19. CDC also has published few guidance for dental setting while pandemic.¹ Since March until May 2020, most of dental clinic chose to close their practice place for a while in Indonesia. Even The American Dental Association (ADA) had recommended US dentists to close their practices to all but the emergency dental work.² The practice of dentistry involves the use of rotary dental and surgical instruments, such as handpieces or ultrasonic scalers and air-water syringes. These instruments create a visible spray that can contain particle droplets of water, saliva, blood, microorganisms, and other debris. Surgical masks protect mucous membranes of the mouth and nose from droplet spatter, but they do not provide complete protection against inhalation of airborne infectious agents. There are currently no data available to assess the risk of Covid-19 transmission during dental practice.¹

Then the patients have been asking if they can’t do the dental treatment at all, or a question when this pandemic will end. The only real answer is “we don’t know, no one knows” since it is the first time for everyone and it is still being studied. Closing dental practices during the pandemic can reduce the number of affected individuals, but will increase the suffering of the individuals in need of urgent dental care. It will also incense the burden on hospitals emergency departments.³

Dental Clinic – Patient Guide For Emergency Care

The ADA published a helpful patient guide listing which dental problems require emergency care and which can wait a few weeks. The following are conditions that you need to see a dentist for right away despite the danger of COVID-19, according to the ADA:

Bleeding that doesn’t stop
Painful swelling in or around your mouth
Pain in a tooth, teeth or jaw bone
Gum infection with pain or swelling
After-surgery treatment (dressing change, stitch removal)
Broken or knocked out tooth²

It is important to note that during this pandemic, the range of emergency dental treatment on offer may be limited to dental extractions only rather than fillings or other restorative care and scaling (cleaning). Which have higher significance for people with bleeding disorders due to managing the risks of bleeding. It is important before attending an emergency appointment that you have communicated your bleeding disorder to the emergency dentist who you may not have met before.⁴ Unfortunately, there may be instances where patients behave unreasonably, perhaps out of frustration or anxiety.⁵ It happened several times in our clinic too, but we chose to give a better explanation so it can be acceptable by our precious patients. Clear communication with patients will also help, so update your website and practice answerphone messages to make it clear how patients can access dental clinic services during the coronavirus pandemic.⁵

Resources: