Webinar on Digital Dentistry & Future Thinking
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Do YOU see this?
The Loading Screen
I wouldn't be surprised if most of you loaded this blog post on your phone. Though some of you are definitely on your laptop. An even smaller number of you are likely viewing this on a tablet. Loading this page may have been instantaneous. Only a second. Boom. You are here. However, some of you may have waited upwards of three seconds for the new blog post to load.
That speed makes a difference in access to healthcare and participation in greater social and economic development activities inside or outside your community.
To put it in more general terms, can a website load for you to view its information, purchase a fun concert ticket, or send a nice email to a family member who lives out of province? When it comes to your health, are you able to register for an appointment with your doctor, have access to digital health records to take with you wherever you go, or read about a health condition online? Is the internet consistent and fast enough?
The Canadian government's measure of high-speed internet connectivity is 50 megabits per second for downloads and 10 megabits per second for uploads. If I quickly use an online tool on a rainy day at the office, I get a quick answer of 93 megabits per second for downloads and 91 megabits per second for uploads. My internet is high-speed.
Yet, rural and remote communities struggle to have access to that basic level of speedy connectivity. Only 59.5% of rural households, according to Statistics Canada in 2021, had access to those speeds. I am reminded of this fact whenever I drive outside Goderich. If I go to Varna, there, the road drops down to a little short bridge over a ravine and then back up again. That dip in the road drops all calls.
There are many families that live on farm properties or small hamlets spread throughout Huron, Perth, Grey, and Bruce Counties that have those little dips—interruptions in broadband access and coverage. There are further interruptions; severe storms or tornadoes can take out physical infrastructure, leading to longer-lasting outages. A downed power line in a storm can take out the local power.
Only two weeks ago, over 16,800 people lost power in Huron and Perth Counties beginning at 10 a.m.; around 3 p.m. it was fully restored. Not visible on this outage map, Goderich lost power. The little grouping of "39" in the top middle is right below Goderich. 39 people, at that time, let HydroOne know that the power was out. That day, the Wi-Fi stopped working at the Gateway CERH office when we lost power. Most of our work is online, so we struggled to get work done.
Part of the issue was the loading speed. When everything went down, I pulled out my phone and turned on my data. I hotspotted my laptop and went to send an email. My phone signal displayed LTE with a single bar appearing peeking out—only a step away from "no signal." I found out that having access to the internet is not the same as access to high-speed internet.
A report by the Auditor General of Ontario found that:
"Connectivity that is unaffordable or of poor quality will be little improvement over having no connectivity at all for Canadians. The impact of unaffordable access is felt by those communities who need it most, namely those living on First Nations reserves or in rural and remote areas."
To put it succinctly, we need high-speed internet in rural areas.
This is not a new issue. It is a long-standing problem. Access to digital tools and technology changes access to health and healthcare. In 2002, the Romanow Report advocated for the future of healthcare in rural areas. It presented that digital infrastructure is necessary to provide more equitable access to healthcare services. As new tools and technology emerge, from 3D printing, drones, and nuclear isotope innovation to electric batteries, they have the potential to have greater impacts in rural areas.
So, once you know there is a need, you can start to ask, what can broadband do?
What Broadband Can Do?
Broadband access is exciting. It opens up possibilities.
Broadband is how you make a call for a tow on a rural highway, it is how you receive emergency alerts on your phone, it is how you connect isolated rural older adults who are looking for a book club.
Dr. Wayne Kelly from the Rural Development Institute at Brandon University developed a "Digital Rural Research Framework." It is a framework that is underway in partnership with the ConnectMB and The Internet Society: Manitoba Chapter project to increase broadband connectivity and digital literacy in rural regions of Manitoba. Their project focuses on the combination of the necessary capital infrastructure and the social and economic conditions driving digital adoption.
There are innovative options that emerge through broadband access and also through more futurist forms of care delivery. As there are numerous small businesses that make up the rural areas, there are endless possibilities for development to explore to promote health through social and economic well-being.
Webinar: Tools, Technology & Innovation: Rural Tele-Dentistry & Future Thinking
On Tuesday, October 6th, 2026, from 12 – 1 PM ET, Gateway CERH hosted an online lecture on “Tools, Technology, and Innovation: Rural Tele-dentistry and Future Thinking.”
Joining this discussion were Dr. Ashleigh Weeden, Dr. Veronica Lee and Jay McFarlan.
Ashleigh Weeden, MPA, PhD, is an award-winning rural futurist and critical public policy researcher.
Dr. Veronica Lee, DDS, practices general family dentistry in Clinton, centrally located in rural Huron County, Ontario (just down the road from where the Gateway CERH office is in Goderich). Her husband and member of Gateway CERH's board of directors, Jay McFarlan, coordinates the administration and digital side of dentistry.
The conversation started with developing some of the theoretical understandings of what a rural community is. Namely, conversations can sometimes be bogged down on the definitions of "rural," but there is also a need to understand that there are differences between rural spaces. Working to build infrastructure, such as roads, through the Canadian Rockies is a lot different from paving the way across the flat areas of Saskatchewan. When you are putting in power lines, thought needs to be done on where you are and what an equitable means of delivery services is.
Living and working environments have also shifted. A remarkable number of people started working from home during the pandemic, and many of the small rural businesses have online presences. Dr. Ashleigh Weeden discussed how the Canadian government's measure of high-speed internet connectivity, 50 megabits per second for downloads and 10 megabits per second for uploads, is out of date and the expectation needs to be increased.
The conversation shifted to new developments in the dental practice world, focusing on looking at the airway as an extension of the mouth within healthcare. Dr. Veronica Lee and Jay McFarlan have introduced 3D printing as a new approach to mouth scanning for appliances such as retainers and mouth guards, with a focus on improving patient comfort.
Watch the full webinar here: Rural Tele-Dentistry & Future Thinking
Register for the upcoming season to attend future webinars: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XlO2os_USV6y1gl28r8_UQ#/registration ion - Zoom
***A brief disclaimer: the views expressed in these lectures may not necessarily reflect Gateway CERH’s views or opinions, but we believe in providing a platform for a range of perspectives and thoughtful discussion.***
Gateway CERH has a full library of lectures and information about the upcoming presentation that can be found on our website: https://www.gatewayruralhealth.ca/lectureseries
Or watch all past lectures online on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GatewayCERH/videos
References
Connectivity in Rural and Remote Areas. (2023) Independent Auditor General Report. Report 2. ISBN 978-0-660-47345-1. Report 2—Connectivity in Rural and Remote Areas
Kelly, W., & McGrath, B. (2025). Understanding digital futures: Towards a framework for digital, community & youth engagement and research. Community Development, 56(5), 689–714. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330.2024.2438016
About Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health
Founded in 2008, Gateway CERH is a not-for-profit rural health research organization run by a community-based volunteer board of directors. Gateway CERH's main mission is to better the health and quality of life of rural residents through research, education, and communication.
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