The effect of educational intervention on the adoption of nickel-titanium rotary instrumentation in a Public Dental Service.
OBJECTIVE
To study the influence of two educational programmes on the adoption of nickel-titanium rotary instrumentation (NTRI) amongst general dental practitioners in a short-term as well as a long-term perspective.


METHODS
All dentists employed in the Gothenburg Dental service (n = 148) were enrolled in the study. The clinics in the organization were randomly assigned to one of two educational programmes. In the first programme a 4-h lecture on root canal instrumentation was given. In the second programme the lecture course was supplemented by a 6-h hands-on training session. The short-term effect was measured by a questionnaire distributed 6 months after completed education. The long-term effect was evaluated 4 years later.


RESULTS
The overall utilization rate of NTRI increased from 4% to 73%. However, lectures in combination with hands-on training resulted in a better short-term acceptance rate (94%) than if teaching was given only in lecture-format (53%) (P = 0.000). As a consequence, all staff were offered hands-on training. The long-term adoption rate was 88%. Reasons for accepting the new technology usually were found within the 'relative advantage' category. Common reasons for dentists not to adopt NTRI were that they could not get started or that they found no advantage over the old technology.


CONCLUSIONS
The short-term adoption of a new technology might be influenced by the design of an introductory educational programme. For clinical procedures, such as root canal instrumentation, the inclusion of hands-on training sessions seems to be important to reach a high acceptance rate.
Reit
C
C
Department of Endodontology, Institute of Odontology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Gothenburg, Sweden. Reit@odontologi.gu.se
Bergenholtz
G
G
Caplan
D
D
Molander
A
A
D003722:Dental Alloys; D003752:Dental Health Services; D003762:Dental Instruments / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D004708:Endodontics / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D009532:Nickel; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists'; D011636:Public Health Dentistry; D018915:Root Canal Preparation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014025:Titanium
D003722:Dental Alloys; C040654:titanium nickelide; D009532:Nickel; D014025:Titanium