Page 36 - WesternU View Summer 2019
P. 36

WesternU College of Dental Medicine introduces


        teledentistry to benefit underserved areas

        By Rodney Tanaka


        The College of Dental Medicine (CDM) at Western           take up to an hour or more to arrive for the child’s dental

        University of Health Sciences is training its             care,” said CDM Assistant Dean for Community Patient
                                                                  Care Marisa Watanabe. DDS, MS. “One of our priorities
        students and Registered Dental Assistants in
                                                                  is determining the best alternative delivery system to
        Expanded Functions (RDAEFs) in teledentistry,             bridge this gap.”
        which provides greater dental care access to              JSFC and the Dental Center at WesternU, on the Pomona

        undeserved and rural areas.                               campus, serve as the dental hubs where CDM faculty are
                                                                  located. The Mountain View School District Head Start
        CDM has implemented its teledentistry training of         headquarters at Mountain View School serves as the
        students and RDAEFs in El Monte, where CDM has a          auxiliary location.
        comprehensive school-based oral health center at the Jeff
        Seymour Family Center (JSFC), part of the El Monte City   Through a “hub and spoke” model, the allied dental
        School District. The city is divided by the San Bernardino   professional – a specially-trained and certified hygienist or
        (10) Freeway. The south part of El Monte is part of the   RDAEF – collects data on a patient at the “spoke”
        Mountain View School District. Although the two school    location and shares the information with the dentist via
        districts are only a few miles apart, many Mountain View   the shared electronic health system. The dentist (connected
        families have difficulty traveling to JSFC because it     remotely) and allied dental personnel work with the
        requires three bus transfers.                             patient’s parents or guardians to determine the best
                                                                  treatment plan for the child. The allied dental personnel
        “For families with children, transportation is one of the
                                                                  can provide certain preventative dental services depending
        key barriers in access to care to oral health care, as it can

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