The Teledent site is easy to navigate.  The attached file (PDF) outlines the process step by step.

You may also want to see the FAQ on how to export the DICOM data from your cone beam software into a compressed folder for ease of uploading.

Cone beam datasets can be large files, and the attached instructions take you step-by-step through the best way to ensure that the data is in a format to be read by Teledent.

A dentomaxillofacial radiologists is a dentist who has undertaken further postgraduate specialty training. In Australia, this is a three year course of study leading to the award of Doctor of Clinical Dentistry degree.  This degree is recognised by AHPRA and the Dental Board of Australia as the requirement for registration as a Dentomaxillofacial radiologist (also termed Oral Maxillofacial radiologist or Dental radiologist).

There is overlap between the field of dentomaxillofacial radiology and medical radiology. Dr Brown works within her scope of practice and will seek opinions from her medically trained colleagues if she detects pathology that requires further advanced imaging, such as ultrasound, MRI or medical CT. 

Medical radiologists may choose to concentrate on the head and neck region, but cannot claim to specialise in dental imaging or use the title of Dentomaxillofacial Radiologist unless they also have a dental degree and have completed the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry training in dentomaxillofacial radiology.

In general, medical radiologists have very little training or experience in interpreting oral/dental diseases and in guiding clinical decisions pertinent to modern dental practice. This is often reflected in the brevity of radiology reporting on OPGs and cone beam images provided by medical radiology practices. 

It is not acceptable to receive radiology reports on OPGs or cone beam images that simply report: “see film for state of dentition” or “no bony pathology detected”.

To gain the maximum benefit for your patient and to guide you with your clinical decision making, it is optimum that the radiology reports for OPG and cone beam images are prepared by a dentomaxillofacial radiologist.  Dr Brown brings the insight of many years experience as a periodontist to her radiology reporting, ensuring that the reports are clinically relevant and address the areas of concern.

The normal turnaround times for preparing the imaging report is 3-5 business days.

If there is unusual pathology, Teledent will consult with other DMFR or medical radiologists as appropriate and this may delay a final report.

Professor Louise Brown may wish to call you to discuss clinical details about a case and you are also encouraged to call to discuss your clinical concerns about patients and their radiology results.

Rush cases are returned in one business day. There is an additional Rush fee payable at the time of requesting the report.

Teledent is a service that operates directly with the dental practitioner, not involving Medicare or private health insurance.  It is simply too impractical for a teleradiology reporting service covering all of Australia and New Zealand to bill each individual patient for the report that their dentist requests and chase up those payments before providing the report to the dentist - so Teledent bills the dentist so that it can provide the report promptly. Think of it as similar to a lab fee payment – you pay the lab fee and incorporate that payment in the overall fee charged to your patient. 

How billing for CBCT scans may work in dental practices (Australia): - please refer all queries on the appropriate use of item numbers to the ADA Schedule committee.

• The dentist who takes the scan in their practice can use an appropriate item number to bill the patient.
• The dentist then analyses and interprets the scan, writing up appropriate notes in the patient’s record and can use appropriate item numbers (according to the field of view of the scan) to bill the patient. The dentist concludes their report by stating that they need a second opinion on interpreting the scan.This may be to address a specific finding or to review the entire scan. Teledent will always provide a radiology report  on the region of interest AND on the entire dataset of every scan and image sent for reporting.
• The dentist then requests the second opinion on the scan, and sends the dicom data to Teledent for a radiology report.  The dentist pays for this report at the time of request. This second opinion is not itemised and does not go through Medicare or the Health funds. The fee is either built in to the total cost of the fee charged to the patient or the dentist can charge the patient an additional fee for those cases where a second opinion is sought. The dentist has every right to charge the patient for this additional fee, where appropriate, to cover the cost of this report.   The additional fee is not an itemised service – the patient cannot claim again against their health fund.

In WA, it is compulsory to get a second opinion for all CBCT scans, in the form of a radiology report from a DMFR or a medical radiologist.  Elsewhere, this is at the discretion of the dentist for each case.

Tax invoices/receipts will be supplied via email and through your secure log-in portal with every report. GST is included in the billed cost of the report.

Medicare rebates are not payable for dentomaxillofacial radiology services provided by dentists and dentomaxillofacial radiologists. The Medicare legislation imposes very strict conditions limiting medical radiologists from claiming rebates when reporting on CBCT scans taken  by dental practitioners in their own dental practices.

No - Teledent restricts services to reviewing and reporting on dental images and cone beam DICOM data sets.  However, we are happy to work with providers of surgical guides to work up datasets in an appropriate format.

No. Teledent is designed to be used by registered dentists and radiology practices.

If you are a patient and you would like to have your images read by Teledent, please ask your dentist to register their practice on our website so they can send your images to us.

Your dentist should review the radiology report with you and answer any questions that you have.  If you have a question about the report that your dentist is unable to answer, they have the ability to discuss your case with Teledent.  Our radiologists are unable to provide direct patient consultations.