Assessment of General Dentists' Knowledge and Confidence towards Dental Implants and their Perceptions regarding Undergraduate Education

Dentists are the primary sources of information regarding dental implants. Thus, they are required to be knowledgeable to meet patients’ expectations.

This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate dentists’ knowledge and confidence in dental implants and investigate their perceptions regarding their undergraduate education.

The study utilized a voluntary anonymous questionnaire, distributed among dentists, and graduates of King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Dentistry, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire sections were: demographics, perception regarding undergraduate education, confidence, and knowledge assessment. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test at a statistical significance of P-value <0.05 were conducted.

The majority 75.5% reported sufficient theoretical information regarding implant dentistry during undergraduate education. However, only 12.2% reported sufficient clinical education. Limited participants had the chance to practice implant dentistry. About half of the participants 44.9% wished they were given this opportunity. Participants’ confidence in different procedures ranged between 45.9% and 82.6%. Survey participants reported adequate knowledge in treatment planning 82.7%, in prosthetics 92.9%, and 79.6% in surgical aspects. No association was found between gender and knowledge sections, treatment planning, prosthetic, and surgical aspects of implant dentistry. Respective P-values were 0.45, 0.14, and 0.09.

Participants were interested to obtain more clinical experience in implant dentistry during undergraduate education. Thus, adjustments are suggested to optimize the quality of education to meet graduates’ expectations.