Awareness of Patients toward Dental Implants as an Alternative Treatment to Replace Missing Teeth in Kinshasa, D. R. Congo

Abstract

Background: Dental implant is an artificial root inserted in the jawbone, which restores a lost tooth so that it looks, feels, and is fit like a natural tooth. It is considered to be the best treatment option for single or multiple missing teeth. The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of patients about dental implants as an alternative treatment in Congolese patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two institutions namely, CBCO Bandal and Ngaliema Clinic, from August to December 2017. A total of 450 respondents have participated in the survey. A printed questionnaire comprised of 20 questions in order to evaluate patients dental awareness was used. Gender, level of education, awareness of dental implant and dental implants therapy, sources of information and the expectation about the sources of information were assessed. The collected data were entered in Microsoft Excel 2010 and analyzed by SPSS (IBM SPSS 20.0, Chicago, IL, USA) software. Results: Out of 450 participants, 14.4% were aware of dental implants. The main disadvantage of dental implant was the high cost. When asked about the anchorage, 86% didn't know where the dental implant was anchored. Ninety-two percent didn't know for how long an implant last, 6% thought that dental implant last for a lifetime. When patients were asked about the sources of information, the dentist (5%) and media (5.5%) were the main sources of information. The majority of patients (88.4%) would like to get information about dental implants from their dentist. Conclusion: Dentists should be more involved in the promotion of information about dental implants as a treatment modality to replace missing teeth.