International Journal of Computerized Dentistry, 03/2007

Dental Informatics (DI) is the application of computer and information science to improve dental practice, research, education, and program administration. As an emerging field, dental informatics faces many challenges and barriers to establishing itself as a full-fledged discipline; these include the small number of geographically dispersed DI researchers as well as the lack of DI professional societies and DI-specific journals. E-communities have the potential to overcome these obstacles by bringing researchers together at a resources hub and giving them the ability to share information, discuss topics, and find collaborators. In this paper, we discuss our assessment of the information needs of individuals interested in DI and discuss their expectations for an e-community so that we can design an optimal electronic infrastructure for the Dental Informatics Online Community (DIOC). The 256 survey respondents indicated they prefer electronic resources over traditional print material to satisfy their information needs. The most frequently expected benefits from participation in the DIOC were general information (85% of respondents), peer networking (31.1%), and identification of potential collaborators and/or research opportunities (23.2%). We are currently building the DIOC electronic infrastructure: a searchable publication archive and the learning center have been created, and the people directory is underway. Readers are encouraged to access the DIOC Website at www.dentalinformatics.com and initiate a discussion with the authors of this paper. Keywords: dental research, dental informatics, Internet, information systems, online systems, information services, hypermedia, computer communication networks

Purpose: The rationale for recording protrusive mandibular movement is to accurately adjust an articulator. Techniques to record condylar inclination include extraoral tracings and intraoral recording materials. This study compared horizontal condylar inclination angles (HCI) recorded with a protrusive interocclusal record and an electronic pantographic device, the Jaw Motion Analyzer (JMA®). Materials and Methods: Twenty-three volunteers (12 females; 11 males; mean age 46.7 years) were selected for this study. First, a protrusive interocclusal wax record after 5 mm protrusive movement was taken from the volunteers and the HCI angles were determined after mounting the volunteers' casts in 2 different articulators (SAM® 2; Reference® SL). Second, kinematic hinge axis and the HCIs were recorded after 5 mm protrusive movement from protrusive jaw tracks recorded with the JMA®. ICC and mean values for HCI were used for statistical analysis. Mean differences of HCI between the measuring methods were compared by Bland Altman Plots. Results: The agreement of the HCI between the articulators determined by the protrusive record was good. The mean HCI value recorded with the JMA® was significantly higher compared to the values of the protrusive wax records. There was no agreement found between the different methods for calculating the HCI. Conclusion: A large variance in articulator settings obtained by interocclusal records is often found. The JMA® was found reliable and valid for measuring HCI values. Within the limitations of this study, the use of a pantographic device should be considered for individually adjusting articulators rather than the use of protrusive records. Keywords: protrusive wax records, electronic pantographic device, condylar inclination, articulator setting

Digital radiography continues to gain in importance in today's surgeries. Compared to conventional x-ray films, it has the following advantages: archiving is improved, film processing is redundant, image post-processing is possible, radiographic images can be sent electronically, and radiation exposure times are shorter. Even though radiographic images are usually interpreted on the monitor, printouts are still required - as experience in general radiology shows - when patient's radiographs are passed on. Of course, printouts of digital images using a standard printer and ordinary paper are not suitable for assessment, due to the properties of the paper. Owing to the structures in the paper, a printout is not transparent, and loses all diagnostic value when inspected on a view box. Keywords: printer, Tetenal, Printing Solution II, documentation, printout, digital technique, film-based