The Public's Need for Dentistry Information on the Internet and Its Current Status in Taiwan

Due to increasing awareness of oral hygiene, many dentistry websites have been established in recent years. However, many Internet users cannot find helpful information online, nor do these users frequently visit such websites. The purposes of this study were to investigate the usefulness of dentistry websites for meeting the public's needs, to examine the current status of dentistry information on the Internet in Taiwan, to explore the influences of dentistry websites on the attitudes of dental patients, and to analyze factors that may influence the use rate of page viewers. Based on the analyzed information from dentistry websites and the results of questionnaires on Internet usage, we found that most dentistry websites only provide general information on clinics and the backgrounds of their dentists. However, the public is interested in such information as the costs of materials and treatment procedures which is not currently provided by many dentistry websites. The results of this research also showed that in general, most people do not browse through dentistry websites for dental information, and for those who do, viewers are mainly aged 30~40 years. Among the selected samples, 24% wished to obtain related clinical information before seeking medical advice for treatment of oral diseases. Furthermore, about 71% of the people interviewed believed that ideal dentistry websites that met the public's needs were essential. Therefore, we suggest that the dental profession should put more efforts into establishing ideal dentistry websites that meet the public's demands for information in Taiwan. At present, there is still a long way to go to achieve this goal.

並列關鍵字

Internet ； dentistry website ； public needs

國際替代計量

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