Internet and computers in maxillofacial surgery

ABSTRACT: Usage of computers and internet in dentistry is growing fast. Various search engines, websites available for dental information resources are explored and evaluated, where the computers are used in conjunction with the internet to enhance the practice and education of maxillofacial surgery. Keywords: Internet, Computers, Wireless-Fidelity, Broadband, Universal serial bus modem, Maxillofacial surgery. Introduction The internet is a worldwide network of computers that can be accessed via the transmission control protocol/internet protocol and the World Wide Web (www). The internet allows the local computer users to find and use information resources on computers of an academic institutions, research institutes private companies, government agencies and individual. It has become the universal standard for networking and delivery of information2. There are many ways of connecting with internet currently the popular methods include: USB modem (Universal serial bus), Broadband and Wi-Fi (Wireless-Fiedelity).

Materials and Methods The search terms, Maxillofacial surgery was entered into 3 common search engines: Google (http//:www.google.com), Bing (http//:www.bing.com), yahoo (http//:search.yahoo.com). The top sites identified by each search engine were downloaded and assessed for authorship, content and data. Results The unique resource locator (URL) of the top 50 sites identified by each search engine was recorded. Google returned 330,000, Bing 748,000, Yahoo 39,800. The top 50 returns were chosen as it was deemed unlikely that the average user would search beyond the first 50 sites returned by the search. The search results were first reviewed for their relevance to clinicians. Of the top 150 sites identified, 18 were deemed relevant. Of these, some (n=32) were duplicated within and between the search engines (table 1). Manual and random searches are performed and the most useful sites.

Table1. Table Depicting summary of yields from each search engine Search engines Yahoo 172,000 Useful sites Duplicated sites Redundant sites 4 13 33 Bing 917,000 6 12 34 Google 1,810,000 8 7 33

Discussion Computers are attaining increasing usage and functionality in the dental and medical community.4 Due to the expanding application of computer technology new methods are evolving for medical diagnosis, education and training as well as surgical treatment planning. The computers with internet access has become essential teaching tools, online consultations can be used to give a large number of people the opportunity to comment on an issue, Structured Templates allow very large volumes of feedback to be collated, analyzed and presented back to participants swiftly and transparently, An international research released by Max Bupa in January 2011 has found that more than one third Indians go online for health

information. The internet is replete with resources and sites that provide on line tutorial and image libraries.2 Conventional maxillofacial surgery planning involves the production of plaster casts from the patients anatomy. The plaster casts are mounted on an articulator which allows the dental segments to be cut and repositioned while the bases maintain in their interrelationship. In surgical planning of complex cranio maxillofacial deformities computers offers an accurate model of the patient. This can be conducted through a large number of medical imaging technologies including CT, MRI, X-rays plus many more. The anatomical region to be operated has to be scanned and uploaded into the computer system; the final objective is the creation of 3D dataset that reproduces the exact geometrical situation of the normal and pathological tissues and structures of that region that enables a surgeon to cuts and bone rearrangements interactively and in an intuitive manner on patient model. In addition, a prediction of the patients operative appearance according to the relocated bone can be simulated and visualized reconstructed from tomographic data with high fidelity, this significantly improves ergonomy in the operating theatre, decreases the risk of surgical errors and reduces the operating time. Surgical segment navigator has been developed as a computer system for the bone segment navigation in oral and maxillofacial surgery. It is a modern surgical approach in orthognathic surgery, in temporo-mandibular joint surgery, or in the reconstruction of the mid-face and orbit. The internet, with its organizational homepages, bulletin boards and mailing lists, allows for information exchange and collaboration at a global level. Standards in research and patient care can be made available at an international level and shared; the website of BAOMS offers a surgical logbook that can be used for logging patient cases. Clinicians are made to be aware

from the present paper that although there is a vast resource of maxillofacial surgery and medicine interest on the internet, there is still some difficulty in locating the most useful sites with the present search engines. Dentists are using them to track patient information and movement in the world.1 The other more important use is in teledentistry and radiology. An initial experience with a wireless personal digital assistant as a teleradiology terminal for reporting emergency computerized tomography scans in neurology department has proven effective.8 Explorative investigation in oral and maxillofacial surgery showed that the idea may be equally possible in oral and maxillofacial pathology setting.5, 7. Better on hand or point of care can be made available to practicing physicians or dentists. Drug databases that can be easily downloaded onto computers have become one of the most useful features for doctors. Medical and specialist dental e-journals and e books are now widely available.4, 6 Conclusion Although the use of the computers and internet in maxillofacial surgery is at an early stage of development, it is likely that future technical advance will allow increased usage and functionality in the dental community. This paper has examined the available resources on maxillofacial surgery. It also proposes a framework where the computers can be used to enhance the practice of maxillofacial surgery through better information on-hand, tracking and management of patient and collaboration at the international level. REFERENCES

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