By Alice A. Huffman, Special to CalMatters
Now, more than ever, the African American community needs as many options as possible to close the disparity gap for oral health care. African Americans and other people of color have the right to affordable, quality health care treatment.
From psychiatry to physical therapy to dentistry, the benefits of the telehealth model are profound. Patients receive expert care in some cases without the added trouble of traveling to see a doctor or paying high visitation fees. But in other cases, access to experts in a specific field, such as neurology or orthodontia, are limited.
In the current throes of the coronavirus pandemic, these services are critical for Californians in need of health care or dental care. For example, the California Dental Association issued a statement recently strongly recommending that “dentists practicing in California voluntarily suspend nonessential or non-urgent dental care” for two weeks.