700 RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

Sven Mühlemann*
Gloria Sandrini* The use of digital technologies
Alexis Ioannidis
Ronald E. Jung
in dental practices in Switzerland:
Christoph a cross-sectional survey
H. F. Hämmerle

Center of Dental Medicine,

Clinic of Reconstructive
Dentistry, University of Zurich,
Switzerland

* Equally contributed

CORRESPONDENCE KEYWORDS
Dr. med. dent. Sven Mühlemann Survey
Zentrum für Zahnmedizin Digital technologies
Klinik für Rekonstruktive Digitalisation
Zahnmedizin
Universität Zürich
Plattenstrasse 11
CH-8032 Zürich
Tel. +41 44 634 04 04
E-mail: sven.muehlemann@
zzm.uzh.ch SUMMARY
The aim of this cross-sectional survey was to For patient administration a software application
SWISS DENTAL JOURNAL SSO 129: identify the extent of digital technology infiltrat- was used in 95% of the practices. The manage-
700–707 (2019) ing dental practices for the management and the ment of appointments was mainly organized by
Accepted for publication:
treatment of patients. A survey (68 questions) a digital agenda (73%). Patient’s dental history
29 November 2018
was mailed to all members of the Swiss Dental was recorded digitally in half of the practices
Association (SSO). An online as well as postal (53%), whereas in one third (38%) also dental/
answer was offered in order to maximise the re- endodontic/periodontal charts were recorded
sponse rate. The survey was mailed in June 2016 digitally. One quarter of the dentists (24%) used
and answers were collected till the end of 2016. an additional dental software for patient treat-
The total number of completed surveys was ment/planning other than the administration
1,238, which resulted in a response rate of 40%. software. In 23% of the dental practices a chair-
Most dentists (97%) owned a private computer side CAD/CAM system was available. The survey
device and 74% used it for both, private and demonstrated that i) the younger the dentist,
professional life. 69% of the dental offices had ii) the more recent the opening of the practice,
a homepage (69%), whereas a limited number iii) the greater the patient catchment area, and
(10%) used social media. The location of the iv) the more treatment rooms, the higher the
practice influenced the extent of online presence. grade of digitalisation of the dental practice.

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Introduction tients and to identify factors associated with the use of digital
Over the last two decades, digital technologies have been pro- technology.
gressively integrated in our lives. Digital devices have changed
the way we communicate and are a key gateway for accessing Material and Methods
information and knowledge. In 2016, Switzerland ranked 7th in A survey comprised of 68 questions (Appendix, German) was
the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) (Baller et al. 2016). The developed in order to provide information on the use of digital
NRI measures a country’s propensity to utilize the opportunities technologies in dental practices within Switzerland and on the
presented by information and communications technology. demographics of participating dentists and their expectations
Digital technologies have influenced our private environment related to digital technologies. The survey was available in Ger-
and even more every sector of the economy. Digitalisation al- man, French, and Italian languages. Addresses of dentists were
lowed automating repetitive working processes. More powerful manually extracted from the online database hosted by the
computers and network infrastructures helped to develop new Swiss Dental Association (SSO). The address allowed to identify
services such as cloud computing or mobile computing. The the region in Switzerland. Based on the address, the language
Swiss government concluded that Switzerland needs to maxi- of the cover letter and the survey was selected.
mally benefit from the economic potential of digitalisation The survey was mailed with a cover letter stating the purpose
(Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation of the survey and emphasizing strict confidentiality of the ac-
2017). Several governmental initiatives offer financial funds to quired data. An online as well as postal answering pathway was
promote the investigation and development of digital technolo- offered in order to maximise response rate. The cover letter in-
gies. cluded a QR code as well as the written link to access the online
In health care, digital technologies are also continuously in- survey. Respondents could also reply by sending back the com-
corporated. The World Health Organization (WHO) expects that pleted paper survey using the enclosed response envelope.
digital technologies will provide a major contribution in im- The survey was mailed in June 2016 and all answers were col-
proving public health (World Health Organization 2018). A study lected until the end of 2016. In order to encourage participation,
from the Health Tech Cluster Switzerland showed, however, the survey was advertised online in the SDJ (during July and Au-
that the degree of digitalisation of health services in Switzerland gust 2016). As a reminder, the survey was advertised in lectures
is estimated as low as 24% (digital.swiss 2018). Another study held by faculty members of the department between June and
within Switzerland identified health care providers to have a the end of 2016. An additional encouragement for participation
lower grade of digitalisation than the average of all economic was that a lottery was organised among all the respondents giv-
sectors (Greif et al. 2016). ing away a tablet computer to the winner.
Digitalisation helps facilitating administrative processes, The grade of digitalisation of the dentist (A0–A3), the dental
e.g. digital management of master data, appointments, and practice visibility (B0–B3), and the dental practice’s organiza-
billing. In dental practices, digital technologies offer the same tional structure (C0–C4) was classified according to preselected
advantages in the administrative work. In addition, the medical questions in the survey (Tab. I).
history, clinical examinations and comprehensive patient data Data were extracted from the paper and online survey and
(e.g. radiographs) may be recorded digitally. coded in Microsoft Excel. A dedicated statistical software was
Among the digital technologies presently available for the used (R Foundation for Statistical Computing) including the
patient treatment are intraoral scanners (IOS). Models and package VCD (Meyer et al. 2006) to generate mosaic plots for
prosthetic reconstructions may be fabricated by means of examining the categorial data. Data were grouped according to
computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing the demographics of the participating dentists (age and type of
(CAD/CAM). A prominent representative is the CEREC system, specialisation) and their dental practices (areal location within
which was developed more than 30 years ago (Mormann et al. Switzerland and size represented by the number of practice
1987). It was demonstrated that an indirect ceramic reconstruc- rooms).
tion may be fabricated chairside by using a computer allowing
the immediate processing of the digitally acquired data. Today, Results
a large number of IOS and CAD/CAM systems are available from Following the exclusion of invalid addresses, the survey was
different companies (Zaruba & Mehl 2017). successfully distributed to 3,133 dentists (24% female versus
Three-dimensional (3D) intraoral imaging data can be used 76% male) in Switzerland. The total number of completed sur-
for superimposition with 3D radiographic and facial imaging veys was 1,238, which yielded a response rate of 40%. The sur-
data. This fusion allows the computer-aided planning of or- vey was returned in written form by 52% of the recipients,
thognathic surgeries, dental implant surgeries and orthodontic whereas 48% answered the survey online. The grade of the
treatments. Digital technologies showed the potential to re- dentist’s digitalisation in private life is presented in Table II.
place conventional techniques in implant and orthognathic More than half of the dentists (57%) returning the survey
surgery (Tahmaseb et al. 2014, Van den Bempt et al. 2018). In were aged above 50 years. 42% of the respondents were aged
orthodontics, treatment planning and execution, e.g. clear between 31 and 50 years. Only 1% of the surveys were returned
aligners, may be supported by digital technologies (Rossini et by dentists aged under 30 years. The younger the dentist, the
al. 2015). higher their grade of digitalisation in private life (Fig. 1). The
Digital technologies were introduced in dentistry decades gender distribution among the respondents was the same as
ago. However, no published information exists on the applica- in the addressed study population, 76% males versus 24% fe-
tion of theses technologies in dental practices within Switzer- males.
land. The aim of this cross-sectional survey was, therefore, to The majority of dentists (69%) worked in single-handed
identify the extent to which digital technologies are used in practices, 27% of the dentist were associates in group practices,
dental practices for the management and the treatment of pa- and 2% worked in a university or dental practice run by a public

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Tab. I Selected survey questions with answers classified for digital grading of dentists (A0–A3), online presence of dental practice
(B0–B3), and organizational structure of dental practice (C0–C4)

Grade of digitalisation

A) Dentist A0 A1 A2 A3

Do you own a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer No Yes Yes Yes

in your private life?

Do you use your private smartphone, tablet or desktop No No Yes Yes

computer professionally?

Do you have dentistry-related software installed on your No No At least one At least one
private smartphone, tablet or desktop computer? question question
had to be had to be
Do you use online educational program/continuing No No answered answered
education or online forums from your private smartphone, with yes with yes
tablet or desktop computer?

Do you have access to professional documents from No No No At least one

outside your practice? question
had to be
Do you have access through the patient administration No No No answered
software from outside your practice? with yes

B) Online presence of dental practice B0 B1 B2 B3

Do you have a computer in your practice? No Yes Yes Yes

Does your practice have a homepage? No No Yes Yes

Does your practice use social media? No No No At least one

question
Does your practice have a digital news feed No No No had to be
(e.g. newsletter)? answered
with yes

C) Organizational structure of dental practice C0 C1 C2 C3 C4

Do you have a computer in your practice? No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Do you us a digital agenda in your practice? No At least one At least one At least one At least one
question question question question
Do you use a computer software for patient’s administra- No had to be had to be had to be had to be
tion (e.g. billing)? answered answered answered answered
with yes with yes with yes with yes

Do use digital records for the patient’s dental history? No No At least one At least one At least one
question question question
Do you have digital radiographs? No No had to be had to be had to be
answered answered answered
with yes with yes with yes

Do you use digital records for dental/periodontal charting? No No No At least one At least one
question question
Do you use digital photography? No No No had to be had to be
answered answered
with yes with yes

Do you have an intraoral scanner? No No No No At least one

question
Do you use additional software for patient treatment/ No No No No had to be
planning other than the administration software? answered
with yes

institution. Similarly, the majority of the respondents (77%) specialist title (Weiterbildungsausweis, WBA), issued from the
were general dental practitioners, although a significant num- SSO.
ber of respondents (22%) had some further postgraduate train- Most dentists (97%) owned a private computer (smartphone,
ing from a university. One third of the dentists (31%) owned a portable computer, or desktop computer) and 74% used it for

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Tab. II Frequency distribution of digital grades for dentists, online presence of dental practice and organization of dental practice;
A0/B0/C0, no digitalisation; A1/B1/C1, low grade of digitalisation; A2/B2/C2, medium grade of digitalisation; A3/B3/C3, high grade
of digitalisation; C4, very high grade of digitalisation

A) Dentist A0 A1 A2 A3 missing data

2% 42% 22% 33% 1%

B) Online presence of dental practice B0 B1 B2 B3 missing data

1% 31% 57% 10% 1%

C) Organizational structure of dental practice C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 missing data

1% 27% 5% 32% 31% 4%

Fig. 1 Dentist’s personal digitalisation (A0 to A3) in relation to the age. The Fig. 2 Dentist’s digitalisation (A0 to A3) in relation to the size of the dental
height of the bars indicates the proportion of subjects within the age group. practice represented by the number of practice rooms. The height of the bars
age < 30y: A0 = 0%, A1 < 1%, A2 < 1%, A3 < 1%; age 31–40: A0 = 0%, A1 = 5%, indicates the proportion of practices within the number of practice rooms.
A2 = 3%, A3 = 7%; age 41–50: A0 < 1%, A1 = 12%, A2 = 5%, A3 = 9%; age 51–65: na: A0 < 1%, A1 = 4%, A2 = 2%, A3 = 3%; 1 room: A0 = 1%, A1 = 5%, A2 = 3%,
A0 = 1%, A1 = 23%, A2 = 12%, A3 = 15%; age > 65: A0 < 1%, A1 = 2%, A2 = 2%, A3 = 1%; 2 rooms: A0 < 1%, A1 = 5%, A2 = 4%, A3 = 2%; 3 rooms: A0 < 1%,
A3 = 2% A1 = 4%, A2 = 2%, A3 = 1%; 4 rooms: A0 < 1%, A1 = 4%, A2 = 3%, A3 = 3%;
5 rooms: A0 < 1%, A1 = 5%, A2 = 3%, A3 = 4%; > 5 rooms: A0 < 1%, A1 = 15%,
A2 = 5%, A3 = 19%

both, private and professional life. Half of the respondents was based in areas with less than 10,000 (22%) or more than
(51%) had some kind of dentistry-related software on their 50,000 inhabitants (29%). The majority of the dental practices
private digital device installed, and 24% of those used it on a had either 2 treatment rooms (28%), 3 treatment rooms (36%),
daily base. or 4 treatment rooms (19%). Dentists with a higher grade of
Professional documents were accessed from home by 43% of digitalisation in private life were more represented in dental
the dentists. One third of the dentists (36%) had access through practices with more treatment rooms (Fig. 2).
the practice’s administration software. Access frequency of those Half of the practices (52%) were equipped with five or more
working from home was daily (41%), once a week at least (41%), desktop computers. In 44% of the practices a desktop computer
and once a month at least (18%). The purpose was mainly to was available in each practice room (reception, office, treatment
manage patient/practice administration. Only few dentists (3%) rooms, x-ray station). Half of the dental offices (53%) were
used their private computer to plan patient treatment (e.g. virtual equipped with both a printer and an office scanner (53%), and
implant planning). 39% of all dentists accessed continuing dental 32% of the practises also had a portable computer (e.g. tablet).
education provided online, half of those (58%) at least once a The majority of digital devices in the dental office (78%) were
month. connected to each other by a network solution, which was
The dental practices of the respondents were mainly (46%) maintained and updated by the dentists themselves (48%),
located in an estimated patient catchment area ranging from a professional support provided by the patient administration
10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants. The other half of dental offices software manufacturer (29%), or a third-party support (8%).

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Fig. 3 Dental practice’s online presence (B0 to B3) in relation to its areal lo- Fig. 4 Frequency distribution of the dental practice’s organizational struc-
cation. The height of the bars indicates the proportion of practices within the ture (C0 to C4) in relation to the dentist’s type of specialization. Left column,
areal location, 1 Region around Lake Geneva (cantons VD, VS, GE), 2 Espace 1 General dental practitioner, 2 Oral surgeon, 3 Periodontist, 4 Prosthodontist,
Mittelland (cantons BE, FR, SO, NE, JU), 3 Northwest of Switzerland (cantons 5 Orthodontist
BS, BL, AG), 4 Zurich area (canton Zurich), 5 East of Switzerland (cantons GL,
SH, AR, AI, SG, GR, TG), 6 Central Switzerland (cantons LU, UR, SZ, OW, NW, ZG),
7 Ticino (canton TI)

Most of the dental offices had a homepage (69%), whereas a 97% used the CEREC system. Dentists graded A3 were more
limited number (10%) used social media, among which Face- represented in a practice equipped with a chairside CAD/CAM
book was the most frequent. The grade of the practice’s online system (45%) compared to practices without (30%). In a labora-
presence is shown in Table II. The location of the practice influ- tory-based fabrication of dental restorations, dentists estimated
enced the extent of online presence (Fig. 3). the use of CAD/CAM technology to range below 20% of the cas-
For patient’s contact details as well as for patient’s billing, es (32%), between 20 and 60% of the cases (36%), and above
a software was used in 95% of the practices. The management 60% of the cases (22%). For the fabrication of ceramic recon-
of appointments was mainly organized by a digital agenda structions, dentists estimated a conventional workflow (14%),
(73%) and reminders for appointments were used in 53% of a fully digital workflow (19%), or a combination of both work-
the practices, mostly by means of automated text messaging. flows (44%) to be executed. 10% of the dentists did not know
Patient’s dental history was recorded digitally in half of the the type of workflow used by their dental technicians. More
practices (53%), whereas in one third (38%) also dental/end- than half of the dentists (57%) did not know the name of the
odontic/periodontal charts were digitally recorded. Interest- CAD/CAM system used by their dental technicians.
ingly, most dentists (62%) did not provide the name of their The dentist’s satisfaction/expectation towards the use of dig-
administration software. ital technologies is presented in Table III.
Digital technologies were often used for imaging devices,
such as digital photography (81%) and digital radiography Discussion
(65%). Cone beam computed tomography and intraoral scan- The present cross-sectional survey within Switzerland showed
ners were accessible in 18% and 23% of the dental offices, that digital penetration in the dental practices was 62%
respectively. In addition, 24% of the dentists had an additional (grades C3/C4). Also, in 31% (grade C4) of the dental practis-
dental software for patient treatment/planning other than the es the patient’s treatment may be supported by in-house digi-
administration software. The grade of digitalisation for the tal technologies. The survey demonstrated, that i) the younger
organizational structure of the dental practices is shown in the dentist, ii) the more recent the opening of the practice,
Table II. Orthodontists were more represented in C4-graded iii) the greater the patient catchment area, and iv) the higher
dental practices (57%) compared to general dental practitioners the number of treatment rooms, the higher the grade of the
(29%), oral surgeons (36%), periodontists (40%), and prostho- dental practice’s digitalisation.
dontists (30%) (Fig. 4). A trend towards a higher digital grading The response rate of 40% found in the present survey was
of the dental practice was observed for i) younger dentists, slightly lower compared with a survey having a response rate
ii) dental practices with a more recent opening, iii) a greater of 45% resulting from the same study population in 2015
patient catchment area, and iv) more treatment rooms per (Wäckerle et al. 2016). The data acquired in the present survey
practice. revealed similar outcomes for the same questions used in both
For the fabrication of ceramic reconstructions, 23% of the surveys indicated by the frequency distribution of the den-
practices were equipped with a chairside system, among those tist’s type of practice (single-handed practice vs. group prac-

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Tab. III Dentist’s general satisfaction/expectations towards the use of digital technologies

3.1 How do you perceive the increasing influence of computer-aided Very positively 28%
dentistry?
Rather positively 42%

Neutrally 23%

Rather negatively 4%

Negativel 1%

NA 2%

3.2 Why do you use digital technologies in your dental practice? To increase efficiency 55%

For extension of the treatment indications 15%

No digital technology available 12%

NA 17%

3.3 Are you satisfied with the digital systems in your dental practice? Yes 82%

No 5%

NA 13%

3.4 Are you planning to increase the grade of digitalisation in your dental Yes 41%
practice?
No 51%

NA 8%

3.5 Do you feel compelled (e.g. by economic competition) to use digital Yes 20%
systems in your dental practice?
No 74%

NA 6%

3.6 How do your patients react to digital systems in your dental practice? Positively 67%

Negatively 1%

I don’t know 24%

NA 8%

3.7 Do you think the financial investments for digital systems are appro- They are too high 49%
priate in relation to their benefits?
They are appropriate 43%

They are too low 1%

NA 7%

tice vs. public/university setting) and of the dentist’s special- the grade of digitalisation (grades 1–4) in small and medium-
ization (general dental practitioner vs. specialists). sized enterprises (SME) in Switzerland revealed a mean of 2.05
The present survey may be classified as representative (Krus- for the grade for digitalisation, whereas a lower grade of 1.84 was
kal & Mosteller 1979). The gender distribution of the addressed found for health service providers (Greif et al. 2016). A study
population was the same as for the respondents of the survey. from Health Tech Cluster Switzerland showed that the grade
However, this was the only publicly accessible demographic of digitalisation in the administrative sector of health services
data, which could be used as an indicator for the representa- in Switzerland is estimated to be 24% (EY Digital Nations 2017).
tiveness of the present survey. A limitation of the present sur- Although a direct comparison between different surveys is diffi-
vey was that the addressed study population was restricted cult (e.g. different parameters used in the classification for the
to the members of the SSO. Also, the survey might have been grade of digitalisation), we may conclude that dental practices
more likely be answered by dentists interested in the topic and are highly digitalized.
may have added a bias to the present survey. Therefore, no sta- The high grade of the dentist’s digitalisation as well as the
tistical analyses were performed. long history of CAD/CAM systems in dentistry may explain the
In private life, most dentists (97%) owned a digital device to high grade of dental practice’s digitalisation. Among dental
access the internet. This number is slightly higher to the one of practices, however, the dentist’s specialisation influenced the
90% reported for Swiss consumers (EY Digital Nations 2017). The availability of digital technologies for the patient’s treatment.
grade of digitalisation of dental practices was 62%. A survey on The highest grade (C4) was more represented in orthodontic

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practices (57%) compared to general dental practices (29%) and Resultate

to other specialist practices (range between 30% and 40%). It Insgesamt wurden 1238 Fragebogen retourniert, was einer
was demonstrated, that the use of digital technologies may im- Rücklaufquote von 40% entspricht, wobei 52% schriftlich und
prove the treatment outcomes and therefore be of clinical rele- 48% online beantwortet wurden. Die meisten ZAZ (97%) be-
vance (Muhlemann et al. 2018; Van den Bempt et al. 2018). sassen in ihrem Privatleben einen Computer (Smartphone, mo-
An online survey of UK dentists regarding the use of CAD/CAM biler Computer oder Desktop-Computer), und 74% nutzten
technology for the patient’s treatment revealed that 56% of the diesen sowohl privat als auch für berufliche Zwecke. Es zeigte
respondents did not use any component of CAD/CAM (Tran et sich, dass je jünger die ZAZ, desto höher der persönliche Digi-
al. 2016). In contrast, the present survey showed that dentists in talisierungsgrad. 43% der ZAZ hatten von zu Hause aus Zugriff
Switzerland estimated the use of CAD/CAM technology in 63% auf zahnärztliche Dokumente, wobei meist administrative
of the ceramic restorations received by the dental laboratory. Arbeiten durchgeführt wurden und nur eine Minderheit (3%)
In addition, 23% of the dental practices were equipped with a auch zahnärztliche Behandlungen planten. Zahnärzte mit ei-
chairside CAD/CAM system. nem hohen persönlichen Digitalisierungsgrad waren eher in
In general, dentists are enthusiastic about digital technologies ZAZ-P mit einer höheren Anzahl Behandlungszimmer tätig.
in their working field (70%). The number corresponds to a sur- In der Hälfte aller ZAZ-P (52%) waren fünf oder mehr Desk-
vey reporting that 68% of the Swiss population think that digi- top-Computer installiert, wobei in 32% der ZAZ-P bereits ein
tal technologies offer new opportunities, whereas 21% see a po- mobiler Computer verfügbar war. 69% der ZAZ-P hatten eine
tential threat (digital.swiss 2018). Only 5% of the dentists nega- Homepage und 10% benutzten auch Social-Media-Kanäle.
tively rated the increasing influence of digitalisation. Für die Administration von Patientendaten wurde in 95% der
The present survey showed that the grade of digitalisation in ZAZ-P eine Software verwendet. Eine digitale Agenda wurde
dental practices is high. In 2017, the Swiss government passed in 73% der ZAZ-P geführt, und 53% erinnerten ihre Patienten,
the ordinances on the federal law concerning the electronic pa- wobei dies meist automatisiert mithilfe eines SMS geschah. Die
tient dossier (EPD) (816.1 Bundesgesetz über das elektronische Krankengeschichte wurde in 53% der ZAZ-P digital geführt
Patientendossier 2018). Hospitals need to introduce the EPD und in 38% wurden Befunde auch digital aufgenommen. Am
within the next three years, whereas for out-patient health care häufigsten kamen digitale Technologien für die dentale Bild-
providers participation is voluntary. Based on the high grade gebung (Fotos/Röntgen) zur Anwendung. DVT und intraorale
of digitalisation in dental practices and provided that the con- Scanner waren in 18% bzw. 23% der ZAZ-P verfügbar. Der
nectivity will be established by the dental software companies, höchste Digitalisierungsgrad innerhalb der ZAZ-P (C4) fand
dental practices may play a role model in the introduction of the sich bei Kieferorthopäden (57%), wohingegen dieser Grad bei
EPD in out-patient practices. Patients are likely to benefit from Allgemein-ZAZ bei 29% lag. Es zeigte sich, dass i) je jünger die
an EPD which will be used by both in-patient and out-patient ZAZ, ii) je jünger die ZAZ-P, iii) je grösser das Patienteneinzugs-
health care providers. gebiet, und iv) je höher die Anzahl der Behandlungsräume, des-
to höher war der Grad der Digitalisierung innerhalb der ZAZ-P.
Conclusion In 23% der ZAZ-P war ein CAD/CAM-System verfügbar, um
The present survey showed that digital technologies were pre- Rekonstruktionen chairside zu fertigen.
dominantly used in dental practices for patient management.
The dental treatment of patients may be supported by digital Diskussion
technologies in one third of the dental practices. Die Umfrage zeigte, dass der höchste Digitalisierungsgrad bei
33% der ZAZ (A3) und bei 62% der ZAZ-P (C3/C4) erreicht
Zusammenfassung wurde. Im Unterschied dazu wurde dieser Grad (B3) nur bei
Einleitung 10% der ZAZ-P erreicht. In 31% der Zahnarztpraxen bestand
Digitale Technologien haben in den letzten beiden Jahrzehnten zudem die Möglichkeit die Behandlung des Patienten durch di-
in allen Lebensbereichen ihre Anwendung gefunden, so auch gitale Technologien zu unterstützen (C4). Der hohe persönliche
im Gesundheitswesen und in der Zahnmedizin. Das Ziel der Digitalisierungsgrad der Zahnärzte sowie die über 30-jährige
vorliegenden Studie war es, zu bestimmen, wie und in welchem Historie von CAD/CAM-Systemen in der Zahnmedizin könnten
Umfang digitale Technologien in der Schweiz sowohl bei der für den hohen Digitalisierungsgrad innerhalb der ZAZ-P verant-
Organisation der Zahnarztpraxis und bei der Administration wortlich sein. Die Mehrheit der ZAZ (70%) empfand den zuneh-
als auch bei der Behandlung von Patienten zur Anwendung menden Einfluss von digitalen Technologien in der Zahnmedi-
kommen. zin als positiv/sehr positiv. Dies entspricht auch dem allgemei-
nen Empfinden der Bevölkerung, die digitale Technologien als
Material und Methoden Chance sieht (69%), wohingegen 21% der Bevölkerung diese
Dazu wurde ein Fragebogen mit 68 Fragen erstellt und an ins- neuen Technologien als eine mögliche Gefahr wahrnehmen.
gesamt 3133 SSO-Mitglieder per Post verschickt. Um eine mög-
lichst hohe Antwortrate zu erzielen, war es möglich, die Fragen Résumé
schriftlich oder online zu beantworten. Der Fragebogen wurde Introduction
im Juni 2016 versendet, und es wurden Antworten bis Ende Les technologies numériques ont été utilisées dans tous les do-
2016 berücksichtigt. Mithilfe der Antworten sollten demografi- maines de la vie au cours des deux dernières décennies, y com-
sche Daten zu den Zahnärzten/Zahnärztinnen (ZAZ) und den pris les soins de la santé et la dentisterie. Le but de la présente
Zahnarztpraxen (ZAZ-P) erhoben werden. Zudem sollte der étude était de déterminer en Suisse comment et dans quelle
persönliche Digitalisierungsgrad der ZAZ (A0–A3), der öffentli- mesure les technologies numériques sont utilisées dans l’orga-
che Digitalisierungsgrad der ZAZ-P (B0–B3) und der Digitalisie- nisation du cabinet dentaire, dans l’administration et dans le
rungsgrad innerhalb der ZAZ-P (C0–C4) bestimmt werden. traitement des patients.

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Matériels et méthodes rique était maintenue dans 73 % des cas des cabinets dentaires
À cette fin, un questionnaire de 68 questions a été préparé et et 53 % d’entre eux rappellent leurs patients la plupart automa-
envoyé au total à 3133 membres de SSO par courrier. Pour at- tisés à l’aide de SMS. Les antécédents médicaux étaient gérés
teindre le taux de réponse le plus élevé possible, il était possible numériquement dans 53 % des cas des cabinets dentaires et dans
de répondre aux questions par écrit ou en ligne. Le question- 38 % des cas, les résultats étaient enregistrés numériquement.
naire a été envoyé en juin 2016 et les réponses ont été prises Les technologies numériques les plus couramment utilisées sont
en considération jusqu’à la fin de 2016. Les données démogra- en imagerie dentaire (photos/rayons X). La TVP et les scanners
phiques devraient être collectées sur les dentistes et les cabi- intraoraux étaient disponibles dans 18 % respectivement 23 %
nets dentaires en utilisant les réponses. En outre devaient être des cabinets dentaires. Le niveau de numérisation le plus élevé
déterminés le degré de numérisation personnel des dentistes au sein des cabinets dentaires (C4) a été observé chez les ortho-
(A0–A3), le degré de numérisation publique des cabinets den- dontistes (57 %), alors que chez le dentiste généralisé, ce taux
taires (B0–B3) et le degré de numérisation au sein des cabinets était de 29 %. Il a été constaté que i) plus le dentiste était jeune,
dentaires (C0–C4). ii) plus le cabinet dentaire était jeune, iii) plus la zone de recru-
tement des patients était grande et iv) plus le nombre de salles
Résultats de traitement était élevé, plus le degré de numérisation dans les
Un total de 1238 sondages ont été retournés, ce qui représente un cabinets dentaires était élevé. Dans 23 % des cabinets dentaires,
taux de réponse de 40 %, avec 52 % de réponses écrites et 48 % un système CAD-CAM était disponible pour les reconstructions
de réponses en ligne. La plupart des dentistes (97 %) avaient un chairside.
ordinateur dans leur vie privée (smartphone, ordinateur portable
ou ordinateur de bureau) et 74 % l’utilisaient aussi à titre privé à Discussion
des fins professionnelles. Il est apparu que plus le dentiste était L’enquête a montré que le plus haut niveau de numérisation était
jeune, plus le degré de numérisation personnelle était élevé. atteint chez 33 % des dentistes (A3) et 62 % des cabinets den-
43 % des dentistes avaient accès à des dossiers dentaires depuis taires (C3/C4). En revanche, cette teneur (B3) n’a été atteinte
leur domicile, dans lesquels la plupart des tâches étaient admi- qu’à 10 % des cabinets dentaires. Dans 31 % des cabinets den-
nistratives, et seulement une minorité d’entre eux (3 %) pour taires, il était également possible de soutenir le traitement du
planifier des procédures dentaires. Les dentistes avec un degré patient par les technologies numériques (C4). Le haut niveau de
de numérisation personnel élevé étaient plus susceptibles de tra- numérisation personnelle des dentistes et les systèmes CAO/FAO
vailler dans les cabinets dentaires avec un plus grand nombre de utilisés en dentisterie depuis plus de 30 ans pourraient expliquer
salles de traitement. Sur la moitié des cabinets dentaires (52 %), le degré élevé de numérisation au sein des cabinets dentaires. La
cinq ordinateurs de bureau ou plus étaient installés, 32 % des ca- majorité des dentistes (70 %) ont constaté que l’influence crois-
binets dentaires disposant déjà d’un ordinateur mobile. 69 % des sante des technologies numériques en dentisterie était positive/
utilisateurs des cabinets dentaires avaient une page d’accueil et très positive. Cela correspond également à la perception du pu-
10 % utilisaient également des canaux de médias sociaux. Pour blic selon laquelle les technologies numériques sont une oppor-
l’administration des données des patients, un logiciel a été utili- tunité (69 %), tandis que 21 % de la population perçoivent ces
sé dans 95 % des cas des cabinets dentaires. Une stratégie numé- nouvelles technologies comme un danger potentiel.

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