The role of digital media in prosthetic dentistry in Egypt and EU countries: a comparative analytical study

• Published in: المجلة العربية لبحوث الإعلام و الاتصال: مجلة علمية فصلية محكمة. Vol. 2020; no. 31; pp. 32 - 48
• Main Authors: al-Shirbini, Nisrin N., al-Shirbini, Ahmad N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Arabic; English
• Published: الجيزة، مصر جامعة الأهرام الكندية 01.12.2020
• Subjects: الإعلام الرقمي; طب الأسنان
• ISSN: 2536-9393; 2735-4008
• DOI: 10.21608/jkom.2020.156714

After the dot-com bubble burst “web 1.0” at the turn of the century, the world wide web underwent significant changes. these changes led to the adoption of and the referral to the new web as “web 2.0.” the web 2.0 has led to dramatic changes primarily as a result of decentralization of communications and interactivity, with information provided by users as contributors of content such as user-generated ads content and so on. it has led to the development of many new media. for example, forums and chat rooms, social networking sites, blogs, virtual/augmented reality, really simple syndication (RSS), QR codes, E-commerce, etc. that vast range of new media allowed the user interactivity and provided a room for user-generated content from all fields. it’s worth to mention that one of the advanced users of such new media are dentists. dentistry has received an unexpected, however welcomed influx of digitization that allowed an easier utilization for such new media. for example, dentists can generate digital smile designs in addition to other digital equipment that overwhelmed the dental appliances; such as, 3d printers, computerized-aided design / computerized-aided manufacturing (CAD / CAM), and oral scanners. all of such digitized output is easily shared now by dentists to show their clinical cases and promote their profession through social media; this study aimed at exploring how digital media influenced the dental profession marketing in Egypt and EU. within the framework of the uses and gratification theory, the researchers conducted intensive interviews with Egyptian and European dentists to shed light on how such new media changed their approach towards their profession, and further inspect the differences between the Egyptian and European experiences. results have shown well-defined differences between Egyptian and EU dentists in their use for digital media. Egyptian dentists tend to be more money-oriented than the EU dentists who behold more value for the educational aspects that each can get from the digital media; however, the ethical implications overwhelm the situation while dealing with digital media. nevertheless, the study has further shown some drawbacks for the use of digital media in the educational field.