Knowledge and attitude about computer and internet usage among dental students in Western Rajasthan, India

BACKGROUND: Internet is a useful tool to update the knowledge. The aim of the present study was to assess the current level of knowledge on the computer and internet among under graduate dental students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study consists of self-administered close ended questionnaire survey. Questionnaires were distributed to undergraduate dental students. The study was conducted during July to September 2012. RESULTS: In the selected samples, response rate was 100%. Most (94.4%) of the students had computer knowledge and 77.4% had their own computer and access at home. Nearly 40.8% of students use computer for general purpose, 28.5% for entertainment and 22.8% used for research purpose. Most of the students had internet knowledge (92.9%) and they used it independently (79.1%). Nearly 42.1% used internet occasionally whereas, 34.4% used regularly, 21.7% rarely and 1.8% don’t use respectively. Internet was preferred for getting information (48.8%) due to easy accessibility and recent updates. For dental purpose students used internet 2-3 times/week (45.3%). Most (95.3%) of the students responded to have computer based learning program in the curriculum. CONCLUSION: Computer knowledge was observed to be good among dental students.