InquiryWhat the patient is willing to pay
Section snippets
Background
The process of deciding when to use implant-supported prostheses remains an area of concern in prosthodontics. Various rehabilitative solutions for a single missing tooth that leaves a gap in the dental arch are possible, including fixed partial dentures, resin-bonded fixed partial dentures, and implant-supported crowns (ISCs). However, direct comparisons of the performance of these in vivo are not available. Survival/success and other strictly clinical biological/physiological parameters may
Methods
The 107 subjects (age 18 to 86 years, mean age 47.4 years) were seen at a private dental clinic within a single month. Each was asked to imagine himself or herself as a patient in a scenario where he or she had lost a single dental element, either posterior or anterior, and was given the choice between having a single ISC or a traditional fixed partial denture prosthesis (FPDP). All of the consequences of having lost a dental element and of not replacing it with a prosthesis plus the
Results
Sixty-four percent of the patients chose the ISC and 36% the FPDP. Current therapeutic choice reflected the patient’s experience with treatment in the past in most cases. The relationship between past treatment and new choice was found to be highly significant.
Regardless of the solution chosen, mean WTP value for the anterior area was significantly higher than for the posterior area. WTP value for the ISC prosthesis was always significantly higher than that for the traditional FPDP. FPDPs for
Discussion
The study population demonstrated a high level of acceptance of implant rehabilitation, which may reflect the confidence patients have in this type of treatment and in who proposes it. Implant treatment is fairly popular among dentists with its high degree of success and good esthetics. However, the most important determinants of the patient’s WTP score for treatment option were value placed on oral health and past treatment experience, with 30% of respondents basing their choice on what they
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Augusti D, Augusti G, Re D: Prosthetic restoration in the single-tooth gap: Patient preferences and analysis of the WTP index. Clin Oral Impl Res 25:1257-1264, 2014
Reprints available from G Augusti, Istituto Stomatologico Italiano, Via Pace 21, 20122, Milan, Italy; fax: +39 0254176231; e-mail: [email protected]