title: Awareness, attitude, and expectations toward dental implants among removable prostheses wearers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess removable denture patient awareness, expectations, and source of information about dental implants (DIs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred patients [150 removable partial denture (RPD) wearers and 150 complete denture wearers (CDWs)] attended the removable prosthodontic clinic at Faculty of Dentistry, Jordan University of Science and Technology. Patients were evaluated using a pilot-tested, 21-question questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-six percent of participants were aware of DIs, with no difference between CDWs and RPD wearers (p > 0.05). The participants' friends and relatives were the main source of information (63.4%), followed by dentists (32.4%). Improvement in function was the predominant reason (55.7%) for patients to consider DIs. Fear of unknown side effects was the major factor in preventing patients from choosing DIs (11.7%), followed by high cost (9.7%) and surgical risk (8.7%). Approximately 89% had no information or were poorly informed about DIs. Over two-thirds of patients did not know about the care (78.3%) of DIs, causes of DI failure (69.7%), or DI duration of service (80.7%). Only 24.7% knew that DIs would be anchored to the jawbone; however, 27.3% and 56.7% of CDWs and RPD wearers, respectively, preferred (p < 0.05) to have their teeth replaced with DIs. High costs were considered the major disadvantage of DIs in 45% of participants, followed by fear of surgery (27.3%), and long treatment times (24.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a high awareness about DIs among removable denture patients; however, this awareness was associated with a low level of accurate information.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Faculty of Dentistry, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
authors.forename: Ziad N
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Al-Dwairi
authors.forename: Bilal Mohammed
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: El Masoud
authors.forename: Sanaa A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Al-Afifi
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borzabadi-Farahani
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lynch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D015921:Dental Implants / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D003824:Denture, Complete / Q000523:psychology; D003832:Denture, Partial, Removable / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants
keywords: Complete denture; awareness; dental implants; expectations; removable partial denture