Patients awareness and attitude towards dental implants

AIMS: The aim of the study was to assess the awareness of the patients regarding implant-retained prosthesis as an option for tooth replacement and the knowledge about tooth replacement as a whole including source of information and attitude towards it amongst Malaysian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Information on demographic characteristics, knowledge about implant as an option for missing tooth replacement, source of information and knowledge about other options of tooth replacement were obtained from patients visiting various dental outpatient departments of hospital and private dental clinics using nationwide self-explanatory survey. RESULTS: Amongst the 1013 response retrieved, 27% of respondents felt moderately well informed about the dental implant treatment. Only 9% of the respondents had dental implant treatment before and 17% felt well informed about different alternatives of replacing missing teeth. The dentists were the main source of information regarding dental implant treatment modality followed by friends and electronic media. 55.6% respondents felt implant to be as good as own teeth during function whereas high cost was the major limiting factor for implant treatment. CONCLUSION: 56% of Malaysian population was aware of dental implant as an alternative for replacing missing teeth. Necessary efforts and measures should be made to raise the awareness of dental implant treatment in the country.