March 27, 2020 by Alexis

Launching Urgence-dentaire.info

COVID-19: launch of urgence-dentaire.info, the information site for dental emergencies in France

The coronavirus-related health crisis has shaken up the organization of dental care in France.

As a study by the New York Times shows, dental surgery is one of the most exposed professions because of its proximity to patients and the risk of projections. As a result, special measures have been taken.

On March 16, 2020, in a press release addressed to all dentists in France, the National Council of the College of Dental Surgeons recommended the closure of all dental practices. However, dental emergencies must be handled by on-call surgeries holding the appropriate equipment, and following reinforced health protocols. Private practices must, nonetheless, set up a telephone hotline for their patients and, in urgent cases, contact the Departmental Council of Order, which regulates all patients visiting on-call practices(2).

In this context, the founders of Spotimplant.com, with the participation of the CDF (Les Chirurgiens Dentistes de France), decided to develop the website urgence-dentaire.info. It is a conversational robot (chatbot) that will help patients to evaluate the urgency of care and refer them to the right interlocutor. This chatbot follows the official recommendations transmitted by the National Order of Dental Surgeons to all practitioners in France.

In addition, the website centralizes information about the existing care system and prevention instructions that change daily according to new directives.

The objectives are multiple:

Informing the population about the new system, the procedure to follow, and referring them to the right interlocutor;
Educating patients about the fact that non-urgent care must be postponed;
Relieving congestion on the number#15 (French national emergency number) and in hospital emergencies by preventing people from consulting them for traditional dental care. Priority should be given to covid-related emergencies.