Level of knowledge of dentists about technologies and their impact on dental practice management

Abstract

Introduction: the use of technologies in the dental office streamlines patient care, facilitates the exchange of information and its administrative management. Objective: to evaluate the level of knowledge of dentists about technologies and their use in the administration of the dental practice. Method:  observational,  descriptive,  cross-sectional  study  in  the  period  January-August  2024  of  dentists who work in private offices or comprehensive centers under their charge, belonging to the Autonomous City  of  Buenos  Aires  and  Greater  Buenos  Aires.  The  universe  and  the  sample  coincided  from  a  non-probabilistic convenience sampling and the established inclusion and exclusion criteria, for a total of 100 dental professionals. The information was processed through Excel, to generate graphs and percentages that allowed a better understanding. Results: of the total number of professionals surveyed, 61 % were female and 39 % were male. More than half, 55 % of the respondents were general dentists, while another group with a greater presence was that of implantology specialists with 9 %, 68 % use the traditional form or model of clinical history, while the remaining 32 % already work with digital models, 66 % do not use software for diagnosis and design of dental treatments; the other 34 % do use it. Conclusions: it is of great importance to train dentists in all aspects of administration, restructure their training, change the profile of new professionals and educate them to implement technological tools in their offices.