Dentists' preferences in implant maintenance and hygiene instruction

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the preferences of dentists in Australia in providing professional implant maintenance and implant-specific oral hygiene instructions (OHI). METHODS: General dentists were surveyed online about their preferences in peri-implant diagnostics, maintenance provision, armamentarium used, and implant OHI techniques and frequency. RESULTS: Most of the 303 respondents (96%) provided maintenance services; 87.6% reviewed implants regularly while 10.7% only performed diagnostics after detecting clinical signs/symptoms. Supragingival prosthesis cleaning was performed by 77.9% of respondents, 35.0% performed subgingival debridement, 41.9% treated peri-implant mucositis..