Web-based continuing dental education in California.

This article asks and answers a series of questions about Web-based continuing education for dentists. A summary of these answers are: (1) all indicators point to a substantive increase in the number and types of continuing education courses in the next five years; (2) the main reasons to take an online dental C.E. course are that it is available at any time from any location that has an Internet connection and the total cost per unit will be substantially lower compared to traditional C.E. courses; (3) the best type of online C.E. course would be one that has an identified experienced expert instructor, provides a case-based or problem-based approach, and provides an interactivity opportunity between the instructor and student via chat room or e-mail; and (4) online continuing dental education is simply one of many methods that can be used by dental practitioners and will not replace other continuing education methods but rather supplement them. In summary, as more and more online dental C.E. courses become available, it is hoped they will be designed to be more than a series of slides since this method does not take advantage of the unique features and opportunities provided by the Internet.