title: An exploratory study to investigate if patients are able to aid the early diagnosis of peri-implant complications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigated if the patient can have a role in reporting early peri-implant complications.
  
  
  METHODS
  An exploratory, single-centred study comparing patient's perceptions of implant success to the clinical success at an examination. SETTING, MATERIALS AND METHODS :Seventy-five patients were randomly selected from patients who had received implant treatment at an implant referral practice. Phase 1 - Patient perception: Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire relating to the health of their implants. Phase 2 - Clinical examination: The patients were examined for implant health/disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  The responses from the patient perception questionnaires were correlated to the variables of the clinical examination. The null hypothesis 'Patients cannot perceive the difference between a successful implant and an implant that is suffering from complications' was then tested using Fisher's exact test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the variables tested statistically show a positive association between patient perception and clinical examination (p <0.001). All variables gave a significant result for Fisher's exact test. Therefore, the null hypothesis can be rejected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that using validated questions an educated patient can perceive peri-implant health/disease. This can play a role in the early diagnosis of peri-implant complications.
authors.affiliation: Implant Centres of Excellence, Oral Surgery, 13 The Village, Bebington, Wirral, CH63 7PJ.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: The Burton Family Dental Centre, 1 Tutbury Road, Burton on Trent, Staffs, DE13 0NU.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Archer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003757:Dental Implantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult