Internet Usage among Dental Professionals in Riyadh

The aim of this study was to assess the value and the measures for the utilization of Internet services among dental professionals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia by using a survey questionnaire at various locations including College of Dentistry, King Saud University (DUC & MUG); Armed Forces Hospital, King Faisal Specialist Hospital, King Fahad National Guard Hospital, and Riyadh Medical Center. The sample was 363 subjects of dental professionals (63.3% response rate) aged ranged 19-65 years, the gender was 55.4% male, 42.7% females, education ranged from undergraduate students, postgraduates, faculty and hospital staff. The result showed that 77% were using Internet, however 62% had low knowledge in dealing with computers, 82% subjects were using Internet at home, 34% in their offices and 6% at Internet café. Only 12.5% received lectures regarding Internet usage. While 69% learned the Internet by themselves, 22% faced difficulty in finding of dental information on Internet. 84.9% of the subjects used the Internet for e-mail services, 58% for research purpose, 49.5% for chatting, while 43% had no clear objectives. The most popular sites were www.ada.org followed by www.smile4ever.net. 12% tried to publish on Internet. 83.2% agreed that if there is an Internet supporting center at their work I university it will increase dental publishing over Internet. It was concluded that the Internet was widely used and there was an obvious increase in Internet usage. Furthermore, dental professionals depended on themselves to learn how to use Internet.