Learning Center (Dental Informatics Online Community)

The goal of the Learning Center is to be a convenient, timely, educational resource for everyone interested in Dental Informatics. To this end, the Learning Center covers the vast spectrum of Dental Informatics topics through a variety of educational mediums.

Do you have material you would like to share? We welcome your submissions. Please fill out the comments/suggestions/criticism box below.

Topics under Development:

General information on how to search for and find health information on the Web
Digital imaging in Europe
Experiences about integrating clinical workstations
Human-computer interaction in dentistry
Genomics for dentistry: definitions and opportunities
The role of technology in the dental office
10 common technology-related problems in a general dental practice
A vision for Dental Informatics
How to find evidence-based medical and dental information on the Web

FAQ
Questions about Dental Informatics? This section allows you to easily navigate to the answers of your most common questions. New questions are always welcome, submit your questions by filling out the comments/suggestions box below.

What do you need to know about adding technology to your dental office? (Last update: Dec. 4, 2007)
What is the difference between dental IT and Dental Informatics? (Last update: Dec. 4, 2007)
What is dental bioinformatics? (Espanol) (Last update: Feb. 22, 2008; Last update Espanol: Feb. 6, 2008)
What is Dental Informatics? (Espanol) (Last update: Nov. 6, 2007; Last update Espanol: Nov. 6, 2007)
Can dentists help detect a bioterrorist attack? (Last update: Nov. 6, 2007)
How can Dental Informatics improve the dental delivery system and inform the health policy debate? (Last update: Nov. 6, 2007)

Webcasts
Just like being in the classroom, these webcasts offer presentations on Dental Informatics given by experts in the field. Streaming video of the lecturers with their PowerPoint presentations are just one click away (DSL and cable connections).

How to Design and Build 3D Simulations Ovidiu Ciobanu discusses (16:22) the design and creation of 3D dental simulations. Topics include: what are 3D models? Why 3D models in Dentistry? Generating interactive PDFs, and more. Created 07/07 [Download Handout — 476 KB PDF]
What is Dental Informatics? (Portuguese, Portuguese slides — 50 KB PDF)
Titus Schleyer (Community of Science Profile) gives a short overview (16:53) of basic concepts in Dental Informatics. Topics include: definition, history, relation to other fields and uses. This webcast is a good introduction to Dental Informatics. Created 02/07 [Download Handout — 50 KB PDF]
How are computers used in general dentists' offices? (Portuguese, Portuguese slides — 380 KB PDF)
Titus Schleyer (Community of Science Profile) gives a short overview (13:26) of a recent study investigating the use of computers by U.S. general dentists and their staff. This is the first study detailing chairside computer use in general dental offices. Created 02/07 [Download Handout — 50 KB PDF]
Speech recognition in dental software systems
Jeannie Yuhaniak Irwin gives a brief overview (6:06) of speech recognition in current dental software. Topics include: speech functions, features and charting findings via voice. Created 05/07 [Download Handout — 26 KB PDF]

White Papers
Do you know of interesting topics or key issues in Dental Informatics that we should be talking about? The documents in this section review issues like standards and best practices. Sharing ideas in an open, non-judgmental medium can help generate great discussion on these and other important topics.

NHIN Prototype Demo and Business Case. Franklin M. Dino, DMD, MA reports on the proceedings of the ONCHIT Meeting held on January 25-26, 2007 and its implications for dentistry

Publications
Want to read up on Dental Informatics? The Publication Archive houses papers and abstracts on Dental Informatics and Dental Information technology.