The digital revolution has greatly enhanced the effectiveness of the health care industry, but its use in healthcare is elective. Objective: Investigate if and how available technology is being used in Ohio dental practices, and compare results to the same survey done in 2001. Methods: A survey with the same questions used in 2001 was mailed to 800 randomly chosen practicing Ohio dentists. The survey was created by using SNAP survey 8.0 and SPSS 13 was used for the descriptive frequency statistics. Results: For comparative purpose, the results of the 2001 survey are included in brackets. 157 surveys were returned (20% [25%] response rate. 89% [72%] of the respondents were general practitioners, the mean age was 52 ± 11 [42 ± 19], with 82% [80%] males and 84% [80%] Caucasians. 96% [95%] of dentists owned a computer. 88% [86%] of the sample indicated that they had a computer at both office and home, and 23% [66%] of the participants owned laptops. Most of those surveyed described their level of computer proficiency as regular user (43% [48%]). High speed internet is used by 65% of the respondents [dial-up modem = 61%]. 87% [58%] of those surveyed used email for business purposes. Email was used more often to contact colleagues (31% [33%]), followed by insurance companies (25% [22%]), and patients (18% [16%]). 42% [45%] used the Internet for research and 48% [43%] to purchase supplies. 89% [86%] answered that they use practice management software. Patient education software was used by 20% [27%], and digital records by 42% [29%] of respondents. Conclusion: The 2005 survey suggests that a similar percentage of Ohio dentists own computers compared to 2001 but in 2005 Ohio clinicians have faster internet connections and are using them more often for business.

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