A Survey to Assess the Awareness and Acceptance of Dental Implants among Patients Seeking Prosthodontic Rehabilitation

BACKGROUND In this study, we wanted to assess the awareness, knowledge, and acceptance of dental implants as a treatment modality among patients visiting A.B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, Karnataka. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 100 patients visiting A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, using a self-explanatory questionnaire. RESULTS The results of this survey indicate that 51 % of the patients were not aware of implant therapy as a treatment option for replacing missing teeth and 44.9 % were aware about it. 38 % of the patients received information about implants from dentist and 38 % of them received from books / magazine / internet. 44.3 % of the patients were willing to undergo implant therapy as a treatment option if needed but 25.8 % of the patients were not willing. 29.9 % of them were open to the idea of implants but were not sure. 58.8 % of the patients rated implant treatment as not affordable and 41.2 % rated it as affordable. The most common reason listed for not opting implant treatment was found to be the cost of the treatment (45.1 %), 27.5 % of the patients were not clear about the procedure and 11.8 % of them stated long treatment time as the disadvantage of implant therapy. CONCLUSIONS This study revealed a low level of awareness (44.9 %) among the patients regarding dental implants although, 44.3 % showed a positive attitude towards implant therapy. The study also revealed the need for further studies involving the general population as majority of the patients in this study were from a low socio-economic background. KEY WORDS Implant Supported Prosthesis, Awareness, Acceptance, Prosthodontic Rehabilitation