Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition

Dental TribuneAsia Pacific Edition | 12/201506 WORLD NEWS Just as social media has become a part of everyday life, so too has it entered the health sector. With patients blogging about dental visits and practitioners promoting theirbusinessonFacebook,anum- beroflegalandethicalissuesarise. Dental Tribune had the opportu- nitytospeakwithbookauthorand health counsellor Sara Natt och Dag about the possibilities and risks entailed in the use of social media in health care. Could you describe how social media has found its way into the health sector over the last several years? Sara Natt och Dag: In Europe, social media began to influence health care maybe seven or eight years ago, whereas in the US it started maybe ten years ago, and its importance is growing expo- nentially. It has become normal for health care and social media to be interlinked. In Sweden, for example, the e-health sector al- ready plays an important role. From scheduling a doctor’s ap- pointment to ordering medica- tion, one can do virtually every- thing online. However, the dental industry appears to have been a bit slower than the rest of the sector. The importance of social media in dentistry has exploded in the last year especially. Although there is probably no such thing as privatedentalblogs,dentaltopics are creeping into the lifestyle in- dustry with people writing about orthodontic and aesthetic treat- ments to a large extent. So,there is a great deal of informa- tion—both professional and per- sonal—available on the Internet? IntheWesternworld,mostpeo- ple have access to the Internet at home and virtually everywhere. Thus, they have access to unlim- itedinformationfromalloverthe world. However, regarding health topics a lack of boundaries may be a matter of concern. Take can- cer blogs, for example. In Sweden, there are many of these types of personal blogs, where patients share everything about their di- agnosis, treatment plan, medica- tion, set-backs, feelings—every- thing. I have followed some of these patients until their death on their blogs. They share their personal disease progression with the whole world and that is a bit crazy, I think. As a counsellor at Karolinska Uni- versityHospital,youhavemetmany of thesediseasebloggersandeven written a book, Den bloggande patienten [The Blogging Patient] (2013),onthesubject.Whatisitthat makes people turn to the Internet with their health issues? A blog can offer support and comfort to terminally ill people, butthisfranknesscertainlyposes new challenges for health care professionals. I meet many sick people who run blogs and always advise them not to write when they are upset or disappointed. Instead, I tell them to talk to the doctor or the nurses about their feelings instead of posting it online. In other areas, as I mentioned earlier, health topics are starting to overlap with lifestyle topics. One can find review videos for whitening strips on YouTube, people talking about their latest dental appointment on Facebook and so on. For many young peo- ple, it is natural to share their personal experiences. Medical professionals can take advantage of this as a way to better under- stand and familiarise themselves with what patients are doing and thinking. Would you agree that this trend has great potential, both positive and negative? Yes, absolutely. If a lifestyle blogger writes about his or her dental appointment, with the name of the dentist tagged, and does that several times, the den- tist will rank higher in search en- gines. Even one person can make a difference—is that not crazy? A Swedish lifestyle blogger just recently wrote about her dental treatment and how fantastic her dentist is. She has about 200,000 readers, so you can imagine what happened. The dentist, in turn, published a link to her posts on the clinic website, because he was proud of being mentioned by an online “celebrity”. This demon- strates the interconnectedness of social media channels—which can be very good and also very bad for one’s reputation, depend- ing on what was written online. Focusing on the advantages: how can dentists use social media most effectively to promote their busi- “Dentists can use social media as a very powerful tool” An interview with book author Sara Natt och Dag, Sweden “It is all about standing out from the crowd and showing some personality.” Sara Natt och Dag Marginal gap formations due to composite shrinkage? Not any more! Light-curing Ionosit-Baseliner is the ideal underﬁlling material for composite restorations. The active ingredients of this »stress breaker« counteract shrinkage, preventing marginal gap formations and reducing post-operative sensitivities. Ionosit-Baseliner. The underﬁlling material. www.dmg-dental.com Gap-free restorations. Ionosit-Baseliner. AD

Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition

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