DOI: https://doi.org/10.53350/pjmhs221661034 ORIGINAL ARTICLE 1034 P J M H S Vol. 16, No. 06, Jun 2022 A Cross-Sectional Survey or Patients Perception and Knowledge Regarding Dental Implants in Pakistan AYESHA MEHAK SAEED 1 , SABA AHMED 2 , KHADIJA IRSHAD 3 , MAHNOOR HAROON 3 , MARIA NASEER KHAN 2 , SHABAN AHMAD MALIK 3 1 Postgraduate Resident Prosthodontics, Foundation University College of Dentistry, Islamabad 2 Demonstrator, Islamic International Dental Hospital, Islamabad 3 House Officer, Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad Corresponding author: Saba Ahmed, Email: sabachaudhry008@gmail.com ABSTRACT Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the perception and knowledge regarding dental implants among patients admitted to hospital. Study Design: Cross-sectional/ Descriptive study Place and Duration: Islamic International Dental Hospital, Islamabad and Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad for the duration of six months from September 2021 to February 2022. Methods: There were 160 patients of both genders were included in this survey. Presented patients had age between 18-70 years. After obtaining informed written consent, detailed demographics of each patient were recorded. Standardized self- explanatory questionnaires were given to patients during regular dental visits to assess their knowledge, source of information, and attitude about dental implants. SPSS 22.0 was used to analyze all data. Results: Among 160 cases, majority of the cases 90 (56.3%) were females and 70 (43.7%) were males. 27 (16.9%) were aged between 18-28 years, 25 (15.6%) had 29-38 years, 45 (28.1%) had age 39-48 years, 20 (12.5%) had age 49-60years and 43 (26.3%) had age >60 years. 42 (26.3%) had dental implants among all cases. There were 65 (40.6%) cases those were aware from the dental implants, among these dentists, friends and family members provided awareness. Dental implant therapy was most often described as being expensive, advance, and scary. Several of the individuals thought implants were painful and unsafe, although these perceptions were significantly less prevalent. Positive feedback was also received from patients in whom perception was high esthetic, improved mastication, no failures and high success rate. Conclusion: Most study respondents lacked dental implant competence. High cost prevents many from choosing dental implants. In developing nations like Pakistan, reducing costs would make dental implants more affordable for poor people. Keywords: Expensive, Dental Implants, Scary, Poor-socioeconomic status, Dental failures INTRODUCTION Dental caries and periodontal disorders are important reasons of lost teeth. Other causes include traumatic tooth loss or congenitally absent teeth. Missing teeth cause poor mastication, face support, speech problems, and aesthetics. [1] If missing teeth are not replaced, it may result in neighbouring teeth drifting and supra emergence of opposing teeth into the vacant tooth space, making treatment harder in the future. [2,3] Tooth loss causes psychological stress that demands extensive social and psychological adaptation. To avoid these difficulties, missing teeth should be replaced as soon as feasible. [3,4] To replace missing teeth, two choices are available: detachable partial dentures and fixed dental prostheses. Fixed prosthesis may be a tooth- supported partial denture or an implant-supported prosthesis. [5,6] Dental implant restorations are the best treatment choice for partially or fully edentulous individuals, according to long-term clinical trials.In modern dentistry, dental implants are a prosthetic treatment method for totally or partially edentulous individuals.[7-9] Proven benefits of implant prosthesis, including enhanced mastication, bone preservation, phonetics, and aesthetics, led to broad popularity and acceptance of dental implants among dental professionals.[10] Long-term clinical research have established the efficacy of implant-supported prostheses. Dental implants have universal recognition and appeal in the dental community. [6] In 2010, Eklund SA's article on trends in dental treatment in the U.S. indicated increased use of dental implant therapy. [7] Pakistan's literacy rate has dropped from 60% to 58%, according to the economic report of Pakistan. Despite this, most urban populations of well-educated individuals[11] would choose implant supported prostheses as a replacement option if they were informed of this treatment method8. Globally, understanding about dental implant treatment in developing nations is quite low[12]. Several studies have shown patients' awareness of dental implants. A survey by Zimmer et al. [13] indicated a high awareness rate and good opinion regarding oral implant therapy. In a study conducted in Saudi Arabia, Al-Johany et al. revealed that 66.4% of patients were aware of dental implants and that relatives and friends were the main source of information for 31.5% of patients [14]. In another study in Iran by Faramarzi et al., 60% of the individuals knew about dental implants and dentists were the main source of information (42%). Awooda et al. discovered that 68.5% were aware of dental implants, and the main source of knowledge was relatives and friends (38.2%) [15]. The present study aims to evaluate the amount of knowledge, source of information, and attitude toward dental implants as a therapeutic option. MATERIAL AND METHODS This Cross-sectional/ Descriptive study at Islamic International Dental Hospital, Islamabad and Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad for the duration of six months from September 2021 to February 2022 and comprised of 160 patients. After obtaining informed written consent, detailed demographics of each patient was recorded. Patients <18 years and those were not agreed for written consent not included in this study. A patient's familiarity with dental implants was gauged with the use of an explanatory questionnaire. There was a special questionnaire made to find out things like age, gender, education, awareness of dental implants as a treatment option, patient perceptions of dental implants (both positive and negative), and where patients heard about dental implants. All patients were selected at random using a nonprobabilistic convenience sampling technique. The questionnaire was developed in both English and Urdu to accommodate a wide range of patients' linguistic abilities. Patients who had not been given any special training were interviewed after completing a questionnaire. It took about fifteen to twenty minutes to complete the survey. All data were analysed with SPSS 22.0. RESULTS Among all cases, 27 (16.9%) were aged between 18-28 years, 25 (15.6%) had 29-38 years, 45 (28.1%) had age 39-48 years, 20 (12.5%) had age 49-60years and 43 (26.3%) had age >60 years. 42 (26.3%) had dental implants among all cases. (figure 1)