2019: The Year of Teledentistry in France?

Abstract

In France, access to a dentist for elderly people, disabled people or inmates is limited. A person’s access to a dentist decreases by 25% when joining a nursing home. A national report mentioned that 85% of residents in nursing homes didn’t have access to a dentist in the past year and 42% in the last 5 years. There are fewer data on disabled people, but 48% of people with disabilities have, at least, one important issue related to oral health. Two examples of teledentistry, the e-DENT project from University Hospital of Montpellier and the TEL-E-DENT project from the public Hospital of Guéret, are presented to describe how teledentistry works in France, the current legal framework, remuneration of teledentistry and the pros and cons of teledentistry in France. 2019 will be crucial for the development of teledentistry as a number official decisions will be made that will influence the implementation of this kind of activity.