Public Knowledge and Awareness Regarding the Use of Dental Implants for Replacing Missing Teeth: A Questionnaire-based Survey in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: In recent years, dental implants have become a viable option for replacement of missing teeth in completely or partially edentulous patients. However, due to inadequate knowledge or information many patients do not prefer implant therapy. Aim: The main study objective was to evaluate the knowledge and awareness regarding dental implants as an option of treatment among dental patients according to their level of education in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: The knowledge and awareness of patients regarding the use of dental implants for substituting missing teeth were assessed with the help of a cross-sectional study from January 2018 to June 2018 utilising standardised self-explanatory questionnaire that were circulated at two places in Riyadh: dental patients visiting the college of dentistry, King Saud University and outpatients visiting King Khalid University Hospital. Patients were provided with the questionnaires during their routine visits to the dental clinics. A total of 1471 subjects participated in this study. Chi-square test was performed to find association between education level of study subjects and their knowledge on various aspects of dental implants, and a p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The statistical analysis was performed using IBM's Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20. Results: This study results revealed that 67% of the patients were aware regarding the dental implants and 467 (31.7%) hadn't heard of dental implants. Among the participants who were aware of dental implants, 555 (37.7%) had college level education and this association was statistically significant (chi(2)=64.18; p<0.001**). The main information source regarding dental implants was dentists and friends. There was a significant association between source of information and education (chi(2)=122.53; p<0.001**). Among the subjects, 386 (26.2%) subjects were aware that oral surgeons are the most qualified to place dental implants followed by periodontist-314 (21.3%) and Prosthodontist-174 (11.8%). High expenses (53%) and fear of surgery (21%) was the main reasons for not availing implants among the study subjects. Our data depicted that deficits in knowledge are distributed widely across education. Conclusion: We found a significant education level influenced knowledge deficit in almost all the aspects of dental implants. There is a need for awareness programmes from dental care experts and specialists to raise the knowledge and awareness level of the public regarding the use of dental implant as a replacement option for missing tooth.