The Schrodinger equation associated to the hydrogen atom confined by a dielectric continuum is solved exactly and suggests the appropriate basis set to be used when an atom is immersed in a dielectric continuum. Exact results show that this kind of confinement spread the electron density, which is confirmed through the Shannon entropy. The basis set suggested by the exact results is similar to Slater type orbitals and it was applied on two-electron atoms, where the H- ion ejects one electron for moderate confinements for distances much larger than those commonly used to generate cavities in solvent models. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.