Uptake of rotary NiTi technology within Australia

Rotary NiTi technology was introduced into Australia approximately 10 years ago. Little information is available in the dental literature to explain the adoption of new technology in dentistry. The aim of this paper is to identify and describe demographic features in the uptake of rotary NiTi technology within Australia.

In 2001, a questionnaire survey was mailed to a stratified systematic sample of general dentists and endodontists in Australia. The numbers of dentists in each state adopting the new technology were recorded and the results tabulated and graphed.

The response rate for the survey was 87 per cent. Overall, 26 per cent of responders used rotary NiTi instruments with a significantly higher proportion of endodontists (64 per cent) than general dentists (22 per cent). A significantly lower proportion of South Australian metropolitan general dentists used rotary NiTi compared with metropolitan dentists in all other states combined. The rate of uptake by South Australian dentists was lower than the other states. A significantly higher proportion of Queensland endodontists were using rotary NiTi compared with endodontists in New South Wales. A significantly greater proportion of rural dentists had tried and abandoned the new technology than metropolitan dentists.

The adoption of rotary NiTi in Australia appears to conform to diffusion of innovation theory and has reached a critical mass making it self-sustaining.