Author Description

This book is intended for the practicing clinician, providing an overview of digital technology. The generation of patients seeking medical or dental care today research and read on the Internet, with web sites and social networking becoming significant factors affecting how patients decide on what kind of care they are seeking and where. Communication has moved from snail mail and the telephone to the Internet, fiberoptics, instant messaging and social networking. On the horizon is the electronic patient record that is accessible by all involved clinicians anytime, anywhere (cloud computing) as well as accessing the record with mobile devices and VoIP (voice over Internet protocol). In addition, we have seen the DICOM files of cone beam CT and the STL files of the surfaces of the dentition and adjacent soft tissue structures become part of routine patient care in some offices, along with computer assisted treatment planning of patients undergoing corrective surgical procedures.