Few years back, a Muslim Asian woman, aged around 50 years old, came to the clinic where I worked at to get a consultation on her dental problems. Based on her personal records and interview data, it was known that she came from a middle-income group, and probably had a moderate level of literacy as observed from her educational background. Since she was not a native English speaker, I could see that language was quite a barrier to our communication. There were some moments which I found it difficult to understand her while she was struggling to explain her medical condition to me. As a Hispanic-descent …show more content…
This is because information and communication technology (ICT) is the key to global understanding that can promotes a mutual interaction between health care providers and patients, regardless of their socioeconomic status, education or literacy level, and cultural background. As highlighted in EuroHealthNet’s report (Christmann, 2005), the abundance of technological tools can minimize the digital divide and promote interactive health literacy among vulnerable groups in the community, including those who have low language literacy skills. In the context of dentistry, health literacy is a primary determinant of oral health and the use of ICT tools such as web-based applications and software can contribute towards developing a sustainable oral healthcare awareness within the