Computer and Internet usage by Canadian dentists.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the frequency of computers in Canadian dental offices and to assess their use; to evaluate Internet access and use in Canadian dental offices; and to compare use of computers and the Internet by Canadian dentists, by the general public and by other dental groups.


METHODS
An anonymous, self-administered survey of Canadian dentists was conducted by mail. A potential mailing list of 14,052 active Canadian dentists was compiled from the 2003 records of provincial regulatory bodies. For each province, 7.8% of the general dentists were randomly selected with the help of computer software. The surveys were mailed to this stratified random sample of 1,096 dentists.


RESULTS
The response rate was 28%. Of the 312 respondents, 4 (1%) were in full-time academic positions, 15 (5%) were not practising, and 9 (3%) provided incomplete data. Therefore, 284 survey responses were available for descriptive analysis. Two hundred and fifty-seven (90%) of the respondents had a computer in their primary practice. Computers were used mainly for administrative tasks (accounting, bookkeeping and scheduling) rather than clinical tasks. Internet access was common (185/250 or 74%), and high-speed Internet access (93/250 or 37%) was increasingly common, judging from the results of previous studies on computer use. The main reasons given for not having in-office Internet access were security or privacy concerns and no reported need for or interest in the service.


CONCLUSIONS
Computer use was high in this sample of Canadian dentists, but a small proportion of dental offices remained without computers. Canadian dentists" use of the Internet was greater than that of American dentists, private enterprise and the North American public in general.
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. carlosflores@ualberta.ca
Carlos
C
Flores-Mir
Neal G
NG
Palmer
Herbert C
HC
Northcott
Carolyn
C
Huston
Paul W
PW
Major
D002170:Canada; D003201:Computers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003748:Dental Equipment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003815:Dentists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011215:Practice Management, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires