Correlates of knowledge and attitude towards dental implants: A cluster-sampling survey among general dental practitioners in the Asian macro-area.

Abstract

This study identifies the knowledge levels and attitude towards dental implants among general dental practitioners (GDPs). All registered GDPs in the State of Kuwait were invited to participate in this study. The questionnaire gathered information about the respondents’ demographics, dental education, knowledge about dental implants, self-rating of implant competency and attitude towards dental implants. Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the contribution of individual variables to the overall knowledge and attitude scores. Of the 1771 dentists invited to participate in this study, 467 (26.3%) participated in the survey. Cronbach’s alpha knowledge score and attitude score was 0.716 and 0.798, respectively, indicating good internal consistency. The mean ± SD knowledge score was 6.68 ± 2.4 and the mean attitude score was 4.63 ± 5.9. Multivariable analysis showed that years of clinical experience, place of work, region of post-graduate training and self-rated implant competency were significantly associated with the attitude score (p<0.001); and, years of clinical experience, specialty training, region of graduation, advanced dental implant training, and self-rated implant competency were significantly associated with the knowledge score (p<0.001). The level of knowledge about dental implants was low and the respondents lacked the confidence to incorporate dental implants into their routine practice.