KNOWLEDGE ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE ON TILT CONCEPT IN IMPLANTOLOGY AMONG GENERAL PRACTITIONERS

Abstract

Dental implants are widely utilized in modern dental practice with inevitable long-term results. Implant placement is often not possible in case of anatomically compromised completely edentulous arches, such as bone resorption, poor bone quality, jaw shape, and location of the mental foramen or loop of the alveolar nerve, mandibular canal, and the presence of maxillary sinuses. Different procedures have been proposed to overcome these anatomic limitations. Among these tilted implants has been proposed as a conservative solution for the treatment of the atrophic edentulous maxilla and restoration of maxillary posterior segments without bone grafting. The aim of the study is to know about the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the TILT concept in implant among the general dental practitioners. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted among the general dental practitioners of Chennai. The sample size of 200 students was selected. A close-ended questionnaire was used to assess the practitioner‟s perspective on tilted implants. Survey software was used to reduce sampling bias. Repeated answers or questioning were avoided. Chi-square tests are applied to find the association between the parameters and the level of significance. Out of 200 practitioners, only 41. 5% of the practitioners had knowledge about the TILT concept in implant and the other 58.5% were not aware. And only 28.5 % of the practitioners were aware of the indications for tilted implants whereas 65% of them responded that they don‟t know under what conditions tilted implants are used. Within the limitation of the study, we can conclude that general practitioners in the Chennai population were not much aware of the tilted implants and their uses and advantages over other techniques.