When someone has a dental concern, their instinct is to go straight into the dentist office. Yet there are many situations where sitting in a dentist chair is not required to address the issue. Virtual care allows patients to stay out of the chair until they need to go into the chair. Here are two recent examples we've seen at Wally.
Virtual care makes it faster for patients to get the right treatment
One of our members, Dave, was having horrible pain whenever he bit down, and over-the-counter pain relievers were no longer working. We connected him with his dentist for a virtual visit.
The dentist suspected Dave had a chronic abscess and would require therapy. The therapy couldn't be started until Dave took antibiotics to decrease the bacterial load and reduce the risk of the abscess getting worse. Dave received an oral antibiotics prescription during the video call.
One week later, Dave's pain had improved significantly but was still lingering. Dave went into the dentist. After taking radiographs and conducting a clinical exam, his dentist determined Dave required endodontic therapy. Since Dave had already taken the antibiotics, the root canal treatment was even faster and easier to begin than if he had waited to come into the practice.
Virtual care can even replace an office visit
Marissa recently sent a chat to our Care Team: "The gum under my crown is swelling and it's painful. Is this a dental emergency? Do I need to go into my dentist office right now?"
We set up a virtual visit with Marissa and her dentist for that afternoon. On the video call, her dentist got a visual and after a quick discussion said, "There might be an infection, but because the pain is mild you don't need to come into the office immediately. I'm going to prescribe an antibiotic rinse and have you rinse with salt water too. Let's have another virtual visit in one week to see how it's doing."
A few days later the swelling subsided. One week later, the pain was gone. Marissa was relieved she didn't have a serious emergency, and her issue was resolved without having to step foot into the office.
Have a dental question or concern? Chat with our Care Team and see if you can address it virtually!
