Affiliation:
1. Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai.
Abstract
When a patient loses his anterior teeth, there is psychological and emotional distress seen in the patient. Replacing the missing tooth has been a long term success in the field of prosthodontics. Dental implants have a vital role in fixedly replacing the missing tooth. The average lifespan and expectancy for a dental implant prosthesis and restoration may be of high expectation. The healing phase of the implant is critical, and when a patient gets a dental implant in anterior teeth, the waiting period also plays an important role. Fabrication of provisional restorations or temporization is an essential procedure in fixed prosthodontics. Fabricating the provisional restoration or immediately loading the implant after the placement comes as a challenge for prosthodontics to restore the function and esthetics. The choice of the temporary restoration may vary from patient to patient and is possible only when an individual has adequate knowledge about the different techniques and the best provisionalization techniques. Immediate loading protocols for dental implants have many advantages by reducing the time, promotes gingival healing and mainly helps in the psychological satisfaction of the patient. Hence this study aims to analyze the knowledge, awareness and practice among dental practitioners and students regarding the provisionalization technique and the method used during the dental implant placement..