Peri-implantitis – the patient perspective: Patient-centred perspectives and understanding of peri-implantitis

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals.

The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by Reena Wadia

Abstract

Patients have a poor understanding of peri-implantitis so it is important to educate them to help prevent this condition, which negatively impacts on quality of life.

Main

Insua A, Monje A et al. J Periodontol 2017; 88: 1153–1162

Adequate patient understanding of the potential complications of dental implants, such as peri-implantitis, is imperative to prevent poor decision-making and manage unrealistic expectations. This study included 135 patients (411 implants) undergoing peri-implant maintenance. 70.4% of patients agreed that 'implants are a life-lasting treatment'. Although the frequency of peri-implantitis was 17.8% at the participant level, 74.1% did not have any knowledge about peri-implant pathology. Sixty-four percent of patients with peri-implantitis were worried or concerned and 32% reported that living with the disease was terrible. The authors concluded patients' understanding and perception of peri-implantitis and its prognosis was generally poor, and the results reflected unrealistic expectations about implants and disappointment when informed about peri-implantitis. Peri-implantitis was found to affect quality of life and the need to develop standardised information guidelines to educate patients was emphasised.