Patient perceived burden of implant placement compared to surgical tooth removal and apicectomy

OBJECTIVE: To assess how patients actually perceive implant placement, to evaluate whether patients' perceived burdens are related to specific stages during implant placement, and to compare patients' perceptions during implant placement with other surgical procedures.

METHODS: A sample of 287 patients was consecutively recruited. Only patients with implantations (n=45), surgical tooth removal (n=147), or apicectomies (n=95) were included. Patients' perceptions during oral surgery and implantation were assessed using the Burdens in Oral Surgery Questionnaire (BiOS-Q). Effects of treatment on BiOS-Q total and domain scores were assessed using multivariate linear regression analyses, and effect sizes (Cohen's d) were computed.

RESULTS: Overall, patients' perceived burdens during oral surgery were low indicated by a mean BiOS-Q total score of 28.5 points, with lowest scores for Side effects (19.4) and highest scores for Anesthesia (34.1). Among treatment groups, implantation was perceived least unpleasant. This was related to lower burdens during Bone and soft tissue manipulation during implantation than during surgical tooth removal (difference: 14.8 points; d=0.8) or apicectomy (difference: 13.1 points; d=0.7).

CONCLUSIONS: Implantation has a low overall perceived burden and is significantly less burdensome during bone and soft tissue manipulation than surgical tooth removal or apicectomy.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Patients can be informed that implant placement is less unpleasing than other commonly performed oral surgery procedures.