15 August 2025

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Feasibility of Implementing Digital Dentistry Section in Dental Clinic of a Military Centre

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Aims

Digital dentistry is not the wave of the future, it is happening now. Whether a dentist embraces the new technology determines the quality of treatment and possibly his future; for this reason, dentists and medical centers have no choice but to use and become familiar with digital dentistry. The present study aimed to investigate the cost-effectiveness of setting up a digital dental laboratory for a dental clinic and ultimately use its results to make better decisions about setting up this department.

Materials and Methods

The present cross-sectional-analytical study was conducted with the participation of 10 dental laboratory technicians and dental equipment stores, as well as 108 dentists and other dental department staff of several military centers in Tehran in 2024. In the first stage, a briefing plan for a prosthetic department with a digital approach was developed. Then, a questionnaire was developed based on the study of Bowen et al. to assess the opinions of dentists and dental department officials, and its validity and reliability were evaluated by 10 general dentists or dental prostheses specialists. Then, after reading the summary of the briefing plan, the participants answered the questions of the standardized questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0.01 software and independent t-test. Before performing statistical tests, the assumption of normality of the total score distribution was examined using Shapiro-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests.

Findings

In the prepared justification plan, the investment cost required to launch a digital dental department was estimated at 10 billion Tomans, and then profitability indicators were calculated, and all indicators were assessed as appropriate (accumulated profit and loss of the first to fourth year in terms of million Rials, 16,096 and 58,059 and 140,239 and 276,621, respectively, as well as an internal rate of return of 60 percent and a payback period of 3 years). In the survey, participants predicted a high need for this department (76.8 percent of people) and a high use of the services provided by dentists in this center (86.4 percent). On the other hand, based on the participant's perspective, technical ability (65.7 percent of people), the ability to provide the necessary environment (60.9 percent of people), and the ability to provide financial resources for the initial investment (52.8 percent of people) were the limitations in launching a digital dental department, respectively.

Conclusion

Based on the developed plan, a review of service statistics, and then calculating the cost-income ratio, financial indicators assess the appropriateness of establishing such a center.

Authors: Peyman Faghihfard, Ahmad Hasani, Saeidreza Maleki, Seyedamin Mousavinezhad

Source: https://jpmed.ir/