Websites help patient community in Singapore
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Dr Kelvin Chye, graduate from the National University of Singapore Dental Faculty, is the mastermind behind two dental service websites created for the public in Singapore. Dental Learning Hub asked him about his plans for the sites, identalcare and dentalcaresingapore, and how the internet benefits modern dentistry.
Question: What were the main reasons for building the websites?
Kelvin Chye: The objectives of setting up identalcare as a one stop dental information hub were to empower the public with oral health knowledge to take charge of their health and to provide them with answers to oral health-related questions. Identalcare is a niche website for interested readers who will go online to research topics such as causes of tooth discoloration, wisdom tooth impaction, dental caries and progression of periodontal diseases.
dentalcaresingapore.com was set up recently to address the need for a 24-hour dental appointment booking hotline. In Singapore, there are several 24-hour medical clinics but not a single dental clinic because a majority of conditions are not life-threatening and most of the patients are able to tolerate pain until the next day. However, with the convenience of the appointment booking hotline, I hope to cater for patients who need an urgent dental appointment, patients who cannot get an appointment to see their regular dentists, as well as overseas visitors to Singapore who wish to have cosmetic dentistry consultations and treatment.
Question: How important is the internet as a source of medical information to the patient community in Singapore?
Kelvin Chye: In Singapore, the internet is widely available and younger generations are increasingly exposed to the abundance information online. Our government also encourages use of the internet and even provides the infrastructure for wireless connectivity that is supplied to many neighbourhoods for free. This is definitely a strong indication that the future trend for any industry to succeed is to have a strong foothold in cyberspace.
Question: What has the response been from patients since you launched both sites?
Kelvin Chye: Identalcare was launched nearly two years ago and the response has been tremendous - we have received encouraging feedback from patients and friends. Visitors to the site have increased and we have a good international mix of readers, as I actively promote it to dental colleagues in Asia. Dental information websites are well established in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, but are lacking in Asia. As such, my team and I promote this website to as many countries as possible and hope to have it translated into several languages. We also welcome the support of investors who can help us achieve this goal.
Question: In the future, how do you see technology further improving dentistry?
Kelvin Chye: Technology advances are constantly evolving and shaping how we practice dentistry. Dentists have to keep themselves abreast of new advances in technology to provide a high standard of care for our patients and yet abide by a safe patient centred and evidence based practice. After all, as the saying goes, dentistry is an art and a science!
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Dr Kelvin Chye, graduate from the National University of Singapore Dental Faculty, is the mastermind behind two dental service websites created for the public in Singapore. Dental Learning Hub asked him about his plans for the sites, identalcare and dentalcaresingapore, and how the internet benefits modern dentistry.
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