More than meets the eye: digital fraud in dentistry

Big Data and Digitalization in Dentistry: A Systematic Review of the Ethical Issues

Big Data and Internet and Communication Technologies (ICT) are being increasingly implemented in the healthcare sector. Similarly, research in the field of dental medicine is exploring the potential beneficial uses of digital data both for dental practice and in research. As digitalization is raising numerous novel and unpredictable ethical challenges in the biomedical context, our purpose in this study is to map the debate on the currently discussed ethical issues in digital dentistry through a systematic review of the literature. Four databases (Web of Science, Pub Med, Scopus, and Cinahl) were systematically searched. The study results highlight how most of the issues discussed by the retrieved literature are in line with the ethical challenges that digital technologies are introducing in healthcare such as privacy, anonymity, security, and informed consent. In addition, image forgery aimed at scientific misconduct and insurance fraud was frequently reported, together with issues of online professionalism and commercial interests sought through digital means.

Imaging and image management: A survey on current outlook and awareness in pathology practice

BACKGROUND

Flexibility of digital photography enables it to be an integral part of pathology practice. An assessment of guidelines of imaging is essential for proper usage of photographs.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the study was to assess awareness of oral pathologists about various aspects of medical photography.

METHODS

Questionnaire based on the availability of facilities, usage, technical details and ethical issues of medical photography was sent to postgraduate students and teaching faculties of Oral Pathology in various localities in India.

RESULTS

Photographs were taken mostly for the purposes of publication, medical documentation and education. Significant number of postgraduate students and faculties of Oral Pathology didn't receive any training or hadn't gone through any publications/books (P = 0.000) about medical photography. Consent for patient photography was taken by significant number of respondents (P = 0.000) but in a verbal form. Majority of people used image editing software, but 19.0% of faculties and 21.1% of postgraduate students were unaware of deleterious effect of image editing. Firm and sensible instructions concerning image storage, sharing and accessibility were not yet created.

CONCLUSION

This survey drew attention towards lack of proper understanding about the technical details, medical protocols and ethical issues related to medical photography. These findings recommend implementation of basic training for medical photography and policy for image management for students and faculties in every health care institution.

"Why We Say No! A Look Through the Editor's Eye"

BACKGROUND

The rapidly flourishing health science has provided a ground to perform research work and contribute to the field of science. On the other hand, reporting the research is equally important as carrying out research. Many such researches and their ground breaking work remain unreported or do not reach the guild, because of poor drafting skills. In nine years since Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR) inception, editorial have come across many manuscripts which are clinically and socially relevant in their message, but lack legible drafting. It was felt that an objective analysis of the reasons for rejection, of manuscripts, is required.

AIM

The present study was conducted with the aim to determine the reasons for rejection of medical and dental manuscript submitted in JCDR.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Retrospective analysis of 1000 consecutive medical and dental articles submitted to JCDR since 1(st) August 2014 was done. Only those articles (902) that reached the end point on decision were considered. The reasons of rejection for medical and dental articles were enlisted and analyzed. When there were multiple reasons of rejection and all of them were critical, then they were counted in all the categories.

RESULTS

Out of the 902 consecutive articles 522 articles underwent rejection. Among the rejected ones, dental specialty comprised of 43.5% and medical articles contributed 56.5%. The most frequent reasons for rejection were commonality (44.6%), non compliance by authors (17.8%), methodological issues (17.3%), plagiarism (11.1%), received same topic and published (7.66%), poor draft (6.70%), data inconsistency (5.77%), mismanagement (1.72%), blacklisted author (1.14%), ethical and out of scope were 0.57% each.

CONCLUSION

Based on our findings, it can be concluded that manuscript rejection can be avoided by the authors, if the topic is well choosen and communication is maintained with the journal editorial.

Digital dental photography: a contemporary revolution

Introduction: Photographs are symbolic of memories and with the advent of digital photography it has become much easier to collect them in a second in a more comprehensive and qualitative manner. Technological advancements in the field of digital photography have revolutionized the concept of photography as a powerful medium of expression and communication. It also offers a spectrum of perception, interpretation and execution. Photography and dentistry go hand in hand for revelation of the hidden and overlooked defects in teeth and other parts of the cavity. This article emphasizes on the significance of digital photography in dentistry and guidelines for capturing orofacial structures and radiographs in a more accurate and informative manner.

Conclusion: Dental world constitutes of microstructures that have to be recorded in a detailed manner in order to perform patient education, documentation of records and treatment, illustration of lectures, publication and web connectivity of complicated cases.

How to cite this article: Desai V, Bumb D. Digital Dental Photography: A Contemporary Revolution. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2013;6(3):193-196.