This clinically oriented book presents the state of the art in e-health care within dentistry and oral medicine (“e-oral health”) with the aim of acquainting dentists and other oral health care professionals with its uses and advantages, especially with regard to diagnosis. It will assist all who wish to learn about teledentistry protocols and the e-oral health branch or to implement e-oral health solutions and procedures in clinical practice. The book opens by discussing general aspects of e-oral health, including tools, networks, and the very important ethical considerations. The use and specific benefits of e-oral health technologies in the diagnosis of different conditions, orthodontic assessment, implantology evaluation, and caries prevention are then fully explained. Finally, examples are provided of the ways in which teledentistry functions in different countries on different continents. e-Oral health is a burgeoning field that encompasses teledentistry as well as other uses of information and communication technologies for oral health care purposes. This book will be an ideal guide for not only dentists but also dental hygienists, dental nurses, and other professionals.

Progress in information technology has fostered a global explosion of data generation. Accumulated big data are now estimated to be 4.4 zettabytes in the digital universe; and trends predict an exponential increase in the future. Health data are gathered from professional routine care and other expanded sources including the social determinants of health, such as Internet of Things. Biomedical research has recently moved through three stages in digital healthcare: (1) data collection; (2) data sharing; and (3) data analytics. With the explosion of stored health data, dental medicine is edging into its fourth stage of digitization using new technologies including augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. Big data collaborations involve interactions between a diverse range of stakeholders with analytical, technical and political focus. In oral healthcare, data technology has many areas of application: prognostic analysis and predictive modeling, the identification of unknown correlations of diseases, clinical decision support for novel treatment concepts, public health surveys and population-based clinical research, as well as the evaluation of healthcare systems. The objective of this Special Issue is to provide an update on the current knowledge with state-of-the-art theory and practical information on human and social perspectives that determine the uptake of technological innovations in big data science in the field of dental medicine. Moreover, it will focus on the identification of future research needs to manage the continuous increase in health data and to accomplish its clinical translation for patient-centered research and personalized dentistry. This Special Issue welcomes all types of studies and reviews considering the perspectives of different stakeholders on technological innovations for big data science in all dental disciplines. Kind regards,

This book informs readers of the needs and rationale for the integration of medical and dental care and information with an international perspective as to how and where medical and dental care separated into specific domains. It provide high level guidance on issues involved with care and data integration and how to achieve an integrated model of health care supported by integrated HIT. A patient typically expects that a visit to a dentist can usually be resolved immediately. This expectation places a premium on instant, accurate, thorough, and current information. The state-of-the-art of fully integrated (dental-medical) electronic health record (EHR) is covered and this is contrasted with the current state of dental-medical software. While dentists in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the US Indian Health Service (IHS), or the US military, for example, have access to fully integrated health records, most US clinicians still gather information from separate sources via fax or phone calls. The authors provide an in-depth discussion of the role of informatics and information science in the articulation of medical and dental practices and clinical data with the focus on applied clinical informatics to improve quality of care, practice efficiency, coordination and continuity of care, communication between physicians and dentists and to provide a more comprehensive care for the patients. Lastly, the book examines advances in medical and dental research and how these may affect dentistry in the future. Most new advances in healthcare research are information-intensive.

Access to oral health services is a problem for all segments of the U.S. population, and especially problematic for vulnerable populations, such as rural and underserved populations. The many challenges to improving access to oral health services include the lack of coordination and integration among the oral health, public health, and medical health care systems; misaligned payment and education systems that focus on the treatment of dental disease rather than prevention; the lack of a robust evidence base for many dental procedures and workforce models; and regulatory barriers that prevent the exploration of alternative models of care. This volume, the summary of a three-day workshop, evaluates the sufficiency of the U.S. oral health workforce to consider three key questions: What is the current status of access to oral health services for the U.S. population? What workforce strategies hold promise to improve access to oral health services? How can policy makers, state and federal governments, and oral health care providers and practitioners improve the regulations and structure of the oral health care system to improve access to oral health services?

Teledentistry is of growing interest to the healthcare world. Over the last few years, momentum is growing in research and service in Teledentistry - mostly carried out by tertiary medical institutes across the world. While Teledentistry is advanced in some sub-specialties, it has high potential to receive more attention from general communities, dentists, dental hygienists, physicians, nurses, researchers and students. For the first time, this book will present essential knowledge from experts in this field. They will discuss the current status of technology and service in various Telledentistry sub specialties and its future implications. Written by experts from around the globe, (i.e., from USA, Europe, Australia and Asia), this book presents technical issues and clinical applications. It includes collective experiences from dental service providers in different parts of the world practicing a wide range of Teledentistry applications. This book lays the foundations for the globalization of Teledentistry procedures, making it possible for dental service to be delivered anywhere in the world.

Progress in information technology has fostered a global explosion of data generation. Accumulated big data are now estimated to be 4.4 zettabytes in the digital universe; and trends predict an exponential increase in the future. Health data are gathered from professional routine care and other expanded sources including the social determinants of health, such as Internet of Things. Biomedical research has recently moved through three stages in digital healthcare: (1) data collection; (2) data sharing; and (3) data analytics. With the explosion of stored health data, dental medicine is edging into its fourth stage of digitization using new technologies including augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. Big data collaborations involve interactions between a diverse range of stakeholders with analytical, technical and political focus. In oral healthcare, data technology has many areas of application: prognostic analysis and predictive modeling, the identification of unknown correlations of diseases, clinical decision support for novel treatment concepts, public health surveys and population-based clinical research, as well as the evaluation of healthcare systems. The objective of this Special Issue is to provide an update on the current knowledge with state-of-the-art theory and practical information on human and social perspectives that determine the uptake of technological innovations in big data science in the field of dental medicine. Moreover, it will focus on the identification of future research needs to manage the continuous increase in health data and to accomplish its clinical translation for patient-centered research and personalized dentistry. This Special Issue welcomes all types of studies and reviews considering the perspectives of different stakeholders on technological innovations for big data science in all dental disciplines. Kind regards.

Access to oral health care is essential to promoting and maintaining overall health and well-being, yet only half of the population visits a dentist each year. Poor and minority children are less likely to have access to oral health care than are their nonpoor and nonminority peers. Older adults, people who live in rural areas, and disabled individuals, uniformly confront access barriers, regardless of their financial resources. The consequences of these disparities in access to oral health care can lead to a number of conditions including malnutrition, childhood speech problems, infections, diabetes, heart disease, and premature births. Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations examines the scope and consequences of inadequate access to oral health services in the United States and recommends ways to combat the economic, structural, geographic, and cultural factors that prevent access to regular, quality care. The report suggests changing funding and reimbursement for dental care; expanding the oral health work force by training doctors, nurses, and other nondental professionals to recognize risk for oral diseases; and revamping regulatory, educational, and administrative practices. It also recommends changes to incorporate oral health care into overall health care. These recommendations support the creation of a diverse workforce that is competent, compensated, and authorized to serve vulnerable and underserved populations across the life cycle. The recommendations provided in Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations will help direct the efforts of federal, state, and local government agencies; policy makers; health professionals in all fields; private and public health organizations; licensing and accreditation bodies; educational institutions; health care researchers; and philanthropic and advocacy organizations.