Is the Internet useful for clinical practice?

Background. Internet use in dentistry is increasing. The authors surveyed d entists to determine how they are using the Internet to support patient car e and how useful they perceive the Internet to be. Materials and Methods. The authors sent a 25-question survey to 455 subscri bers to the Internet Dental Forum, an Internet discussion list. Participant s completed the survey through a Web page or by e-mail during an 18-day per iod in December 1998. The survey included questions about when they began u sing the Internet and their motivations for doing so, their positive and ne gative experiences, where they use the Internet and why, their use of infor mation resources-including electronic information resources-and demographic s. Results. The authors received 314 surveys from 438 participants, a 72 perce nt response rate. Participants reported demographic characteristics similar to national averages and were highly computer-literate. Most considered th e Internet essential for their practice and had increased their Internet us e for professional reasons over time. Ninety-seven percent of respondents u sed the Internet at home, and 68 percent used it in the office. Only 5 perc ent used the Internet in the treatment area. The primary reason cited by pa rticipants for using the Internet was to keep up in general, followed by to answer patient-specific questions and to provide patient education. Reduct ion of professional isolation was one of the most frequently cited advantag es of using the Internet. Conclusions. The authors found that some dentists use the Internet to suppo rt clinical practice and that it helped dentists adopt new techniques for p atient treatment and obtain information on new materials or products. Clinical Implications. The Internet appears to support clinical practice mo stly indirectly, by helping users keep up in general, rather than by answer ing specific clinical questions.