Digital Dental Technology Survey: Perception vs. Reality

The benefits of digital technology within dentistry are well documented; however, there are some still misconceptions about making the transition. The most common reasons why a doctor would hesitate to switch from analog to digital include:

  • time investment

  • ease of use

  • costs

In a recent Carestream Dental survey, both non-digital and digital users were asked a number of questions regarding their perception of digital technology versus the users’ actual experiences. The good news is that many of the areas that were a concern for doctors who are not already using digital systems turned out to not be a problem for current users.

Ease of Use

Non-digital users were asked if they considered digital products difficult to use. Only 20% believed that they were easy or very easy to use. Fortunately, 61% of current digital users found their products to be easy and very easy to use in their clinics/practices.

Costs

When it comes to the cost of digital technology, non-digital users’ expectations were matched to the reality. While 24% of non-users answered that investing in digital technology would reduce costs, 18% of digital users found that it actually did reduce expenses. This is compared to 17% of non-users who believed the investment would increase significantly increase costs—only 14% of users found this to be the case.

Time Investment

When asked how long they believed it would take to train employees on digital products, 35% of non-digital users believed it would take some time. Only 20% of digital users, however, reported that it took a very long time or some time to train their employees on their recent technology purchase.

Overall, the perceived risks associated with digital technology are not really true. If you are interested in learning more about how you can benefit from digital technology once getting over these hurdles, we have a blog on film vs. digital radiography.

What are your thoughts on digital technology? Do you think the perceptions match the reality? Let’s discuss it in the comments section below.


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