North Carolina Gives Dentists, Hygienists More Leeway to Use Telehealth

North Carolina will now allow dentists to offer telehealth services.

Governor Roy Cooper recently signed into law SB 146, which sets standards for the practice of teledentistry in the state. Among other things, it allows dentists to use certain connected health platforms and gives dental hygienists the freedom to work in remote locations like federally qualified health centers and community health clinics while being virtually supervised by a dentist.

“This bill is a major step forward in aligning our state with the rest of the country to improve the accessibility and efficiency of dental care,” Jane Weintraub, former dean of the University of North Carolina’s Adams School of Dentistry, told North Carolina Health News. “It clarifies the provision of teledentistry that benefits those who can’t easily get to a dental office because of geography, disability, a pandemic, or who desire greater convenience.”

The legislation is particularly important for North Carolina, in which more than 2 million of the state’s 10.5 million residents struggle to receive adequate dental care, according to the American Dental Association, and residents in 98 of the state’s 100 counties live in a region designated by the ADA as a Dental Health Professional Shortage Area. 

Dentists were particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, which curtailed in-person care and prompted many people to forego routine treatments, like dental check-ups and cleanings. A 2020 survey by the DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement found that 40 percent of dentists surveyed were either embracing telehealth or moving in that direction.

”Dental offices find themselves under significant stress as they seek to offer necessary care in a new, unpredictable environment,” the organization, which surveyed more than 2,700 dentists last month who treat Medicaid patients, said in its report.

In response, many states expanded emergency telehealth coverage to include dental services, and several – like Texas and Indiana – have moved to make teledentistry permanent.

Through a telehealth platform, dentists can schedule virtual visits with patients to determine whether they need to come into the office or seek emergency care, and they can check up on patients who’d recently had dental services and might need follow-up care.

Hygienists can use the platform, meanwhile, to connect with supervising dentists while they’re visiting patients in FQHCs, health clinics, skilled nursing facilities, senior living centers, even schools and correctional facilities.