An Orthodontist's Primer on the World Wide Web and E-mail Dr. Lee Graber Dr. Lee Graber addressed this topic and Dr. David Turpin was commentator for the presentation. Dr. Graber noted that computers are increasingly used in the management of a practice, in the technology involved in bracket design, wires, and other materials, and in the diagnosis and treatment planning of patients. Information science (informatics) is the study of the application of computer and statistical techniques to the management of information. The Internet has several networks including electronic mail (e-mail), which has the greatest use, and the World Wide Web, which is a collection of multimedia documents. The Internet is a medium uniquely capable of integrating differing modes of communication and differing forms of content. The Internet is exerting an impact on our society that social scientists are studying. The multiple modes of the Internet allow (1) reciprocal asynchronous interaction between two individuals, (2) interaction of many people at a discussion website, (3) broadcasting of information to a select group, and (4) reference searching (surfing) on the web. Americans going on line has grown from 25 million in 1995 to 83 million in 2000. The number of websites has grown from 20,000 in 1995 to over 10 million in 2000. Studies show that a digital divide exists between those who use the Internet and those who don't. Most Internet users are wealthy, urban, white, and males under 55 years old. Although a very large number of sites are on the web, 80% of the hits are on less than ½ % of the sites. This happens, because, most surfers use commercial portals such as Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft Network which control the number of sites in their service networks. Orthodontists need to participate in the Internet. One third of adult medical patients consult the web concerning their health questions. The AAO has a website for the public and for its members. Precautions are recommended for Internet users. The Internet rush hour is between 6 and 10 pm, and kids are on the net after school. Virus protection is needed. Technology sometimes fails. Install home firewall protection to keep others from accessing your own programs. Download only from safe and secure websites. Don't give your e-mail address to strangers. When contacting the media, set up a dummy account to keep your personal e-mail address private. Use encryption for credit card orders. If you have information that is private, for example, financial, put that information on a computer that is not hooked up to the Internet. In dentistry passive and active decision support systems are now available. An oral radiology active DSS (www.orad.org) will accept your radiographic data, will then go through decision making steps, and finally give you a differential diagnosis. In education, diagnosis and treatment planning modules are being developed, the Internet assists communication among educators, and simulation projects hold promise for improving licensure board examinations. Computer and Internet technology can help in teaching problem-based learning and to develop critical thinking skills in students.