Survey of implant experience by prosthodontists in the United States.
OBJECTIVE
The paper presents results of a survey of members of the American College of Prosthodontists (ACP) conducted to determine experiences and practices with dental implants.


METHODS
Preliminary survey questions regarding the prosthetic and surgical use of dental implants were developed. The master list of questions was distributed to communities of interest to establish the most pertinent items of interest. The final questionnaire was distributed to all members of the ACP living or practicing in the United States and members engaged in the U.S. armed services. Responses were compiled and analyzed to determine correlation of responses using the chi-squared test for count data (level of significance alpha = 0.05). Fisher's exact test was applied to all significant responses.


RESULTS
Surveys were distributed to 1815 ACP members. A total of 554 (31%) surveys were completed. On the basis of age distribution of survey respondents, it was determined that the respondents were representative of the ACP membership. The majority of the respondents (82%; CI, 79% to 85%) treat patients with implant-supported prostheses, while 12% (CI, 10% to 15%) surgically place implants. Of those not placing implants, 24% reported a desire to place implants, while 43% of all respondents expressed a desire for an ACP-sponsored course in implant placement. Increased age of the prosthodontist correlated negatively with a desire to place implants (p < 0.0001). Dissatisfaction with implant placement by others correlates with willingness to surgically place implants (p < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Most prosthodontists (82%) use implant-supported prostheses in their practices, but most of the implants are placed by non-prosthodontists. There is general satisfaction with implant placement regardless of the specialty of the practitioner placing the implants. Younger prosthodontists expressed a greater desire to surgically place implants but were not statistically more likely to do so.
Eckert
Steven E
SE
Research Trainee, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA. seeckert@mayo.edu
Koka
Sreenivas
S
Wolfinger
Glenn
G
Choi
Yong-Geun
YG
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002983:Clinical Competence; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015921:Dental Implants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004498:Education, Dental, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011476:Prosthodontics / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
D015921:Dental Implants