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Mosby’s Dental Drug Reference, 6^th ed., Handheld Software edition

Department of Advanced General Dentistry, University of Mississippi School of Dentistry, 2500 North State St., Jackson, MS 39216-4505; tdellinger{at}sod.umsmed.edu.

Mosby has delivered a dental drug reference that is light, portable, and teeming with pertinent information for the dental professional. Based on the preceding sentence alone, the reader may assume that this is a valuable asset to each dental reference library. However, there are some drawbacks to utilizing a personal handheld device for reference material, as well as the software that is developed for it. Mosby has gone out of its way to make the format user-friendly and informative. The publisher has also set the cost of the hand-held program to be comparable with its paperback edition of the same name. This is an advantage when compared to drug reference materials, which are currently available from other sources, such as Lexi-Comp or ePocarates.

Initial start-up costs must be considered for the dental professional planning on utilizing this drug reference. The program is provided on a CD-ROM that must be run on a Windows-based computer system with Internet connection. The drug reference is in an eBook format accompanied by its own reader program, Mobipocket Reader 4.6. The start-up CD-ROM requires the user to register both the Mobipocket Reader program and the Mosby’s Dental Drug Reference, 6^th ed. This security feature helps prevent pirating via duplication or multiple users on a single valid license. Once registered, the programs may be saved to the user’s handheld device (also referred to as a personal digital assistant or PDA) via a synchronizing mechanism. The programs are compatible with a variety of PDA platforms, including Palm and Pocket PC formats. Handheld devices range in price from $80 to $800, depending on the internal memory, programming platform, and capabilities of the PDA. This review utilized a Palm m505 (which can be purchased for less than $100) consisting of 8mb internal memory, color screen, and an SD card expansion slot. Due to the memory requirements of the programs, both the reader program and the drug reference were saved and utilized from an SD card.

Once opened, the drug reference may be navigated by various methods. As with the printed version, Mosby’s Dental Drug Reference, 6^th ed. allows the reader to search by brand/generic name and appendices listing medications that affect taste and xerostomia or are herbal/nonherbal remedies. Additionally, the handheld version contains navigation tools based on drug classes and therapeutic/pharmacologic categories. This information is well cross-referenced and easily navigated via keyboard typing of a drug’s name or touchpad "tapping" on a drug via its brand name, generic nomenclature, drug class, or therapeutic index. Once the user is comfortable with navigation throughout the program, drugs may be evaluated by various subtopics, including action, usage, dosage and routes, side effects, contraindications, precautions, pharmacokinetics, drug interactions related to dentistry, dental considerations, and brands and classes. Legibility of the data is enhanced by the multicolor format and font selections that allow the reader to pick a size/format that is most comfortable for the user. The hand-held adaptation differs from the paperback edition by omission of the weights and equivalents, local anesthetic calculations, and dose/weight calculations charts commonly found in the printed version.

Overall, I would give Mosby’s Dental Drug Reference, 6^th ed. for Handheld Devices a mixed review. It is an informative tool for any dental professional who is comfortable with handheld devices. Mosby sets a high standard when compared with other drug reference sources by providing supplemental information specifically geared towards dental professionals. However for those users who have never utilized a PDA previously, significant time is necessary to become comfortable with the navigation and utilization of the software. A drawback that will be noticed by the experienced PDA user will be the lack of periodic drug updates. The drug reference is static unless a newer edition is purchased and downloaded. Another drawback is that many of the drug reference functions are temporarily disabled if the program is removed from the PDA. This is of significance for those users who save the program to an external memory card instead of the internal handheld device memory. Correction of the problem requires additional synchonization of the Mobipocket Reader with the www.mobipocket.com website whenever the memory card is replaced into the PDA.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dellinger, T. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Dellinger, T. M.