title: Assessment of Patients Referred to Specialty Dental Hospitals for Dental Implant Procedure: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  One of the most common and effective ways of replacing missing teeth is by dental implants. Both quality and quantity of bone along with the area of implant placement govern the prognosis of the implant procedure. Certain risk factors predispose the implant treatment to high failure rate. Hence, we assessed the implant patients who were referred from private practitioners to the specialty hospitals from 2010 to 2014.
  
  
  METHODS
  All the patients being referred from private clinics to the specialty dental hospital for the purpose of prosthetic rehabilitation by dental implants from June 2010 to July 2014 were included in the present study. Skilled oral and maxillofacial surgeons were appointed for performing the implant surgical procedures. Prosthetic rehabilitation was done after 6 to 8 weeks and after 10 to 14 weeks in implant cases without and with bone augmentation procedures respectively. Distribution of dental implants based on the indications, location, dimension of augmentation procedure, and complication of implants was analyzed and assessed for the level of significance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the patients, 712 were females, while the remaining were males. Most of the patients were in the age group of 50 to 59 years. As compared with completely edentulous patients, most of the patients required rehabilitation by a single implant. Maximum dental implants were placed in maxillary premolar region and mandibular first molar region. Over 1,000 cases in this study required rehabilitation by augmentation procedure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Partially edentulous patients are most commonly referred to specialized dental hospitals for prosthetic rehabilitation by dental implants, mostly with the purpose of implant placement. Failure rate can be minimized by following strict patient selection protocols along with following a standard surgical criterion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Following standard surgical protocols and strict treatment planning, prognosis of the dental implant procedures can be improved to a greater extent, thereby increasing its clinical success rate.
authors.affiliation: Senior Resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Dentistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh India, Phone: +919414509596, e-mail: rishithukral@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: Rishi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thukral
authors.affiliation: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Bhagwan Mahavir Medical Superspecialty Hospital, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
authors.forename: Anuj
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, RKDF Dental College and Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Prasant
authors.affiliation: Department of Restorative Dentistry, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Krunal M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Punjabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, RKDF Dental College and Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Aparna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paliwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, Government Dental College and Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Kunal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patel
mesh_terms: D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D005260:Female; D006782:Hospitals, Special; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007576:Jaw, Edentulous, Partially / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Implants; Indications; Private practitioners.