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Volume2 Issue6
I
ssues and
P
eople
Dr.AlyssaHayes, assistant professor indental publichealth at the
University of Saskatchewan’s College of Dentistry, is part of an
interprofessional team that uses telehealth to provide oral health
care to children living in remote communities.The team, which
includes faculty members in nursing, dentistry and medicine,
has been nationally and internationally recognized for their
innovative work in digital health. They were the winners of
the 2015 Canada Health Infoway competition for the Faculty
Interprofessional eHealthAwardandwerealso theonlyCanadian
recipients of the 2014 InTouch Health
Outstanding Acute Care Telemedicine
AchievementAward.WeaskedDr.Hayes
to tell us more about their work using
telehealth innorthernSaskatchewan.
How are you using telehealth to promote oral
health?
InSaskatchewan, a largeproportionof our popula-
tion lives rurallyand remotelyandcanhave trouble
gettingaccess toour healthcaremarket. So in
collaborationwith theCollegeofNursing,weuse
distributed learning toeducate thenursing students
who live in these remotecommunities about how
to incorporateoral healthexams in their overall head-
to-toeexams. Theyarealso instructed inhow toapply
fluoridevarnish for thosewhoare identifiedashigh
risk. I amavailableduring the screeningdays via the
remotepresencedevice toprovideguidanceand
advicewithan intraoral camera, if needed.
Telehealth:
ANewAvenue forAccess
toOralHealthCare
Dr.AlyssaHayes
Demonstrationof theRPXpressdeviceused
incollaborationwith theCollegeofNursing
andCollegeofDentistry,Universityof
Saskatchewan.
Towatchan
interviewwith
Dr. AlyssaHayes, visit
The use of remote presence technology could provide away to reach
those segments of the populationwhodon’t traditionally present to
private practice.
