Patients Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Dental Implants

Introduction: The more informed a patient about a treatment, the better the obtained outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of the patients regarding dental implants and determine the sources of information and also the accuracy of received information. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 246 participants who had referred to the Department of Dentistry in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran from July 2018 to February 2019, with the age of at least 20 years, were randomly selected. A researcher-made questionnaire including demographic characteristics and questions related to participants knowledge and attitude regarding dental implants was used. Mean (SD), Frequency (Percentage) were used for description. Independent sample t-test, one way ANOVA test were used for data analysis. Data were analyzed by SPSS software Version 23 and p -value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The mean score of the participants knowledge on dental implants was 8.08 ± 2.12 out of 12. The primary main source of patients for getting information was friends and acquaintances (32.9%), followed by dentists (26.8%). The level of knowledge was higher in younger (p= 0.001) and educated ones (p= 0.001) and in those who had insurance coverage (p= 0.012). The main reason for not choosing implant treatment in 58.9% of participants was high costs. There was no relationship between gender (p =0.55) and monthly income of patients (p= 0.09) with their level of knowledge. Conclusion: The results revealed that knowledge level of the participants about durability of implants, was low; Therefore, it seems necessary to improve the level of information of participants and to correct their information sources.