Representative marketing-oriented study on implants in the Austrian population. II. Implant acceptance, patient-perceived cost and patient satisfaction.

Oral implantology is an established subspecialty of restorative dental and oral surgery. While an extensive body of evidence on the fundamentals of osseointegration and associated factors has been published, marketing-oriented analyses based on representative public opinion polls of implant acceptance, patient-perceived cost and patient satisfaction are scarce. In this study, an attempt was made to address these points by questioning a representative sample of 1000 adults in the household setting. The interviewees were presented with 14 questions. Of those familiar with implants as one of the treatment alternatives, 61% reported they would accept implants if the need arose. Implant acceptance was highest among males and interviewees below the age of 30 years. The interest in implants increased with increasing family incomes. Four percent of those questioned already had implants. Twenty-five percent knew someone who had undergone implant treatment. All those questioned found implant-supported rehabilitation to be very expensive. Many of them blamed the dentists for the high cost. One detail was particularly evident: satisfaction among implanted patients was clearly higher than satisfaction rates perceived by them from what they were told about implants by others. First-hand experiences with implants proved to be less biased than reported second-hand information.