Today's Globe: house calls, digital dentistry

"In greater Boston, house calls are coming back, but with a 21st century twist. Each month, 500 elderly, disabled, and chronically ill persons who are enrolled in a special primary care program receive visits from clinicians committed to helping them retain their independence and health," Dr. Elizabeth Kass, medical director of Urban Medical, and Dr. Mark L. Zeidel, chief of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, write on the op-ed page. "The person making the house call, however, is more likely to be a nurse practitioner than a doctor. In addition to a stethoscope, the bag is likely to contain a laptop computer that connects the clinician to physicians, hospitals, and an entire array of support services."

It looks like something out of the opening credits of the "Six Million Dollar Man." Three dimensional, real-time images of teeth rapidly appear one by one on a computer screen as a dentist waves a wand about the size of an electric toothbrush in a patient's mouth. The device is a creation of Lexington-based Brontes Technologies.