LOCAL DENTISTS OPT FOR TELEDENTISTRY DURING PANDEMIC

Teledentistry, dental or oral care through technology like phone, email, or video is utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic so those with urgent oral problems can still receive care.

Tooth pain doesn't stop during a pandemic.

So local dentists and other oral doctors are taking the wheel to keep numbers down in the emergency room.

Fox 55's mallory beard tells us how they're helping patients keep their pearly whites up to par or really helping them just make it through root canal pain.

Local emergency rooms have seen an increase in patient numbers since the covid-19 pandemic.

So these dentists are working to keep those numbers down by helping where they can.

Dr. jason glassely//fort wayne endodontics "teledentistry allows us to assess what a patient's teeth complaint is, what symptoms they have, and then we're able to get a better idea as to whether or not they can be treated with antibiotics to buy some time, and then also we can determine if it is serious enough that they need to come in to the office and be seen."

Teledentistry provides the option of dental care through technology like email, video, or phone.

Local oral doctors opted for the method, but on an urgent basis.

Dr. mulokozi lugakingira//oral surgeon "i see anything head to neck, oral surgery related, but at the moment it's all emergency."

Because of coronavirus changes, face to face office hours have shifted.

Dr. dave diehl//dupont family dentistry "business is open from 10 am til 2pm monday through friday.

But the teledentistry system is active from 8am to 5pm monday through friday."

Endodontists like dr. glassely perform root canal treatments.

Which often cause people a lot of pain.

Dr. jason glassely//fort wayne endodontics "a lot of root canals, you know the patients are in pain or have active infections so those often need to be done."

If patients need elective treatments, like teeth cleaning something non- urgent, you'll likely need to wait until the pandemic is cleared once and for all.

Dr. jason glassely//fort wayne endodontics "there's a fair amount of root canal cases where the patient is not in severe pain so we are rescheduling a lot of those cases until we're able to see those patients for routine care."but don't worry, if you miss going to the dentist, they miss seeing you too.

Dr. dave diehl//dupont family dentistry "we haven't seen as many patients.

I'd kinda like to see more.

But we're just managing as best as we can."in fort wayne i'm mallory beard fox 55 news temperatures aren't the only things taking a fall.