Knowledge, attitude, and practice of dentists toward immediate dental implant

Background: With the advent of immediate single-stage implant placement, the edentulous patient can receive replacement in the same surgical visit, thereby reducing the time that has elapsed between tooth extraction and implant placement. There is a scarcity of literature that assesses patient's knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of dental students toward immediate implant placement, therefore the need of the study. Materials and Methods: A multiple-choice questionnaire consisting of 12 questions was framed and distributed to dentists between January 2019 and June 2019 from all the dental clinics in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India, who have entered their clinical practice with the primary objective to determine their KAP toward loading protocols of immediate and delayed implants. Results: Thirty-one percent of the respondents are aware of loading protocols of immediate implants and delayed loading and 69% were not aware of immediate implant procedures. Conclusion: Although dental implants have changed the outlook of dentistry in the past few decades, the knowledge and practice of implants by dental practitioners in Dhanbad is still limited, and there is a need to improve the same.