Women are using the Internet more and more these days to get information regarding their health and to choose their health providers, including their dentist. Women are the major decision-makers when it comes to health care (statistics show that women account for 86 percent of all dental appointments made), and they are the ones who choose the health providers for their families as well as for themselves.
With today's two-career families, the Internet is becoming an important resource for women who have too much to do! The Internet is up and running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Statistics show that well over 70 percent of people online explore the Internet for health information. In addition, many women dentists are using the Internet to showcase their practice. Anyone can access the American Association of Women Dentists' (AAWD) Web site at www.aawd.org and find a woman dentist near them. (Note: If you are a woman dentist, please look at this site to see if your information is accurate.)
You may be asked about health information that your patients find on various Web sites. Remember that a lot of the information on the Internet may be opinions and not based on the latest scientific information. In addition, credible scientific information is changing rapidly, as we have seen regarding hormone-replacement therapy for women.
There are a myriad of Web sites that can give you useful information on general health and nutrition issues, as well as physical conditions, illnesses, and drugs that impact you, your family, your friends, and your patients. Since it is virtually impossible to be up-to-date with every new advance that takes place almost daily, a list of Web sites is provided below.
The starting point for gathering such information is with a good search engine, such as Google (www.google.com), Yahoo (www.yahoo. com), or AltaVista (www.altavista.com). Remember, when using these sites, try to narrow your search as much as possible by using quotation marks, "+" or "–" signs, and the words "and" and "or" to help you find what you are looking for faster.
If you need more information than what you find in the search engines, these sites can be useful, and, in some instances, fun to use:
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→General Health Information Sites:
- WebMD: www.webmd.com
- Ailments: www.ailments.com
- IVillage Health: www.ivillagehealth.com
- Dr. Koop: www.drkoop.com
- FamilyDoctor: www.familydoctor.org
- Healthcentral: www.healthcentral.com
- Health A to Z: www.healthatoz.com
- HealthyNet: www.healthy.net
- Healthfinder: www.healthfinder.gov
- MayoClinic: www.mayoclinic.com
- Medical Breakthroughs: www.ivanhoe.com
- Medicinenet: www.medicinenet.com
- Medscape: www.medscape.com
→Sites Dedicated to Women's Health Issues:
National Institute of Health (women's): www.orwh.nih.gov
- www.owh/cdc.gov
- www.4woman.gov
- www-unix.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/links_hlth.html
- www.whitememorial.com/pages/services/women/links.html
- www.4girls.gov
- www.womensdesktop.com/medicalinformation/index.html
- cc.usu.edu/~fshrode/wss_health.htm
→Oral Health for Women:
- Maternal and Child Health: www.mchoralhealth.org
- National Oral Health Information Clearing house: www.nohic.nidcr.nih.gov
As you can see, the Internet can be an excellent source for gathering information about health issues that we face in our practices and in our personal lives. But be careful! Not all of the information you find in cyberspace is based on true science. Learn what you can believe and what you should ignore. Once you get started using this resource, you will find yourself referring to it instead of the books on the shelves in your office. Let your fingers do the walking on your keyboard. You will always be a source of information for your patients and your family.
Jeff Dalin, DDS, FACD, FAGD, FICD
Dr. Dalin practices general dentistry in St. Louis, Mo. He is editor of St. Louis Dentistry Magazine and chairperson of the Greater St. Louis Dental Society Critical Issues Response Team. Contact him at [email protected] or (314) 567-5612.
