New Maine Program Offers Kids Virtual Dental Appointments

We all remember when we were youngins' and going to the dentist was a nightmare. Right? You were so afraid of the sound of that drill but then oddly enough, nothing hurt and you got to pick out a gift from the kid's box.

According to WMTW, Maine has accepted $650,000 worth of funding to create a program that will now be offering virtual dental visits for kids.

This is because the Children’s Oral Health Network of Maine want to start this cool network of what's called, "virtual dental homes."

This means,

..children become patients with a dental practice but receive care in school and primary care settings. Services are delivered using telehealth technology

Chellie Pingree, Congresswoman, WMTW,

This type of program is called "Telehealth," and it means your children won't have to dread the drive and their attendance at the dentist. This also means that you, as a parent, don't have to worry about dragging your child to the car. It will reduce stress on both parent and child, as the article states.

This will help for those appointments that are normally quick, but obviously, if real work needs to be done, you have to go into the office.

The news station reports that two of the telehealth programs have already begun in Somerset, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, and Kennebec. In addition, the story says, you will see three more programs in five more counties to be launched in August.

Pingree added in the article that Maine's ranking for children who are insured by Medicaid but do not have any dental care coverage is ranked at 47, which is not good.

This will be a convenient tool and assume it will help with our ranking.

To learn more about new the Maine Virtual Dental Home click here!