Dentistry
and the World Wide Web
Written by Jay H. Garlitz, D.M.D. (Contributing Editor) for
"Today's FDA" March 1998
World Wide Web
In practical terms the World Wide Web is a system of connected
computers which store a reservoir of material available for your
use.
It is the "Information Highway".
E-mail follows down this same highway.
You need a computer capable of running the software needed; a
communication device such as modem;
an on-ramp to get on (Internet Service such as "AOL",
or a
local internet service provider), usually utilizing a local phone
number;
and a destination such as an E-mail address for E-mail use or a
"URL",
which is a web site location. A click of the mouse or keyboard
stroke
starts the journey. Your bytes have bite as they allow you to
partake in the manna of modern day communication.
Internet Directories
Modern day aides called Search Engines allow you to search
the World Wide Web for information. These "Yellow
Pages" of the
computer age are usually free, and advertiser supported. Key
words that
you desire to find information about are entered. Connections
between
different words an be made to narrow the results (you may get
voluminous
results). The list of matches to your inquiry will be summarized
and
interactive. Clicking on a highlighted word (called hypertext)
will take you
to another web location. Your software has a back and forward
function
to allow you to return or toggle between web sites visited each
session.
You can save interesting sites as "bookmarks" for
future use
(just like using one in a book).
Different Search engines have varying databases
(keywords about millions of web pages differ between them),
so try using a few for each inquiry.
Some of the search engines are:
yahoo - www.yahoo.com ,
dogpile - www.dogpile.com
lycos - www.lycos.com, excite
- " www.excite.com
Give them a try. Search out subjects related to dentistry. You
will be
amazed at the results.
Sites Related to Dentistry
The amount of information available for your viewing and use is
impressive. Once you get a knack for using the search engines to
narrow down the response to your queries, you can
find specific topics that you have an interest in.
Try looking at these sites for a sample of what is available:
American Dental Association - www.ada.org
Florida Dental Association - www.floridadental.org
University of Florida College of Dentistry - www.dental.ufl.edu
National Library of Medicine - www.nlm.nih.gov
National Institute of Dental Research - www.nidr.nih.gov
Explore the Information Highway and let us know about web sites
about
dentistry that you find interesting
E-mail: fda@floridadental.org
The Web and the Dental Office
Can this creative tool be used in the dental office?
Will your patients utilize your web site?
Why have dentists set up their sites and how?
These are questions we hope to answer in an interactive series
of upcoming articles about the Internet and the World Wide Web.
Look at these two web sites (one is the author's):
www.gatordental.com
www.reyesdentist.com
Please E-mail us (fda@floridadental.org)
with your comments about
how you perceive these examples of dental office web sites.
For those of you who have your own sites please share the details
of why
and how you implemented one (include the URL address).