Effect of computer literacy on the working time of the dental cad software program

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the correlation between the learning effect of dental computer-aided design (CAD) software and computer literacy in the clinical and preclinical experience groups of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM). Methods: A total of 28 participants were recruited, including 14 dental students and 14 dental technicians. Their working time was evaluated using a custom abutment design with two dental CAD software program (exocad GmbH and Deltanine). The working time of custom abutment design was measured 3 times. A survey was conducted to evaluate the computer literacy. For statistical analysis, Mann–Whitney U test was used to analyze the difference between the clinical and preclinical experience groups and the correlation between computer literacy and reduction in working time was confirmed by Spearman's Rank correlation analysis (α=.05). Results: The median working time showed the clinical experience group had faster than the preclinical experience group (P<.001). On the other hand, the reduction in working time was higher in the preclinical experience group (P=.002). Only preclinical experience group had a significant positive correlation between the computer literacy and reduction in working time (P<.001). Conclusions: Basic computer skills are required for first-time users to achieve an excellent learning effect of dental CAD software program.