Patients‘ awareness of dental implants as an option for tooth replacement: A survey in Kathmandu valley, Nepal.

Dr. Lajana Shrestha; Dr. Dilesh Pradhan; Dr. Siddharth Dixit

Volume : VI, Issue : IX, September - 2017

Patients‘ awareness of dental implants as an option for tooth replacement: A survey in Kathmandu valley, Nepal.

Dr. Lajana Shrestha, Dr. Dilesh Pradhan, Dr. Siddharth Dixit

Abstract :

Currently, dental implants are widely accepted as prosthetic treatment of completely or partially edentulous patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients� knowledge about methods of tooth replacement and assess awareness, motivation and expectation of dental implants. Descriptive cross–sectional survey using questionnaire was conducted among 405 partially edentulous patients who visited different dental colleges in Kathmandu valley. Out of 405 participants, only 36.3% were aware about dental implant and majority of them (65.9%) had heard about it from dentists but only 13.1% preferred the treatment for replacement of missing teeth. The main motivating factor for choosing dental implant (56.6%) was avoidance of damage to adjacent teeth and the major constraint (40.5%) for not choosing the treatment was its high cost. The survey concluded that 63.7% of study population was unaware of dental implants and in developing countries like Nepal, where Dental implants are currently on the rise, patients do not choose this treatment due to high cost and lack of information about it.