The impact of teledentistry on travel distance and carbon emissions at a children's hospital.

Abstract

Background: Health care emissions account for approximately 8.5% of total US domestic greenhouse gas emissions. Staff member and patient travel is the largest contributor to dental office-related emissions, and this number has been increasing. One approach to reduce such emissions is to use telehealth instead of in-person office visits.

Methods: This pilot retrospective cross-sectional study included all children who completed a teledentistry visit from November 15, 2022, through June 23, 2023 in a pediatric dentistry clinic. Electronic health record data collected included age, race and ethnicity, insurance type, preferred language, and street address. Patient miles and travel time saved were calculated using mapping software. Emissions prevented were calculated using a miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency of 25 miles per gallon and 8.82 kg of carbon dioxide (CO₂) produced per gallon of gasoline consumed (standard US Environmental Protection Agency ratios).

Results: For the 101 patient visits, teledentistry saved 13,822.1 patient miles of round-trip travel distance, with a mean of 136.9 miles saved (range, 5.4-309.5 miles), and more than 15,000 minutes of round-trip drive time, with a mean of 150.3 minutes saved (range, 14.8-318.6 minutes), and resulted in 552.9 fewer gallons of gasoline consumed and 4,875.4 fewer kilograms of CO₂ emissions from gasoline consumption than in-person clinic visits. Most reduced carbon emissions realized were contributed from patients living in rural communities.

Conclusions: Teledentistry consultations reduced patient miles traveled and drive time traveled and resulted in fewer kilograms of CO₂ emissions and fewer gallons of gasoline used.

Practical implications: Teledentistry is a tool for patients and contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste in dentistry.