Patient satisfaction concerning implant-supported prostheses: an observational study

Abstract

The aim of this observational study was to assess thedegree of patient satisfaction toward implant-supported prostheses.A questionnaire was used with two scales (one consisting ofdetailed adjectival and the other of numerical responses) regardingchewing, esthetics, speaking, comfort and overall satisfaction. Thescales were administered to a sample of 147 patients treated withimplants and prostheses. The data were submitted to the Kappastatistic and the Chi-square test to analyze the association betweendependent and independent variables. High degrees of satisfaction(greater than 91%) were found for all categories evaluated, regardlessof gender, age, number of implants or type of prosthesis. “Comfort”was associated significantly with the number of implants (p = 0.038),and “speaking” was associated significantly with the type of prosthesis(p = 0.029). Positive agreement was found between the scales for allcategories evaluated, without statistically significant differencesregarding respondent preference (p = 0.735). Patients treated withimplant-supported prostheses were highly satisfied with the treatment