Status report on dental implantology in Switzerland. An updated cross-sectional survey

A status report of dental implantology in Switzerland has already been performed in 1994 and 2006. The present study, based on these former surveys, aimed to update these results for the year 2016. To this end, a questionnaire was sent to all dentists in Switzerland who were members of the Swiss Dental Society (SSO) at the time of the survey. The questionnaire asked for personal background data and obtained information about the dentists' knowledge and concepts when using implants, the extent to which they used implants and about specific implant systems, which were selected based on the previous surveys. Out of 3,168 questionnaires, 1,446 were returned (return rate: 45.6%). Approximately 91% of the responding dentists had a practical involvement in implantology (implant placement only, superstructure insertion only, or both). Just over half of them (53%) placed more than twenty implants per year. Good handling was chosen by all dentists (100%) as a selection criterion for the implant system they used preferably. The current data suggested that the range of indications had widened, yet that the edentulous mandible was still the indication of choice. The percentage of dentists engaged in dental implantology doubled from 1994 to 2006 (1994: 42.2%, 2006: 82.2%). An increase of almost 10% in dentists involved in dental implantology was also apparent from 2006 to 2016 (2006: 82.2%, 2016: 91%). Our data show that, whilst the relative number of implant users had greatly increased among Swiss dentists, their rationale to place implants has remained similar.