Trends of New Patients over the Past 15 Years in a Dental Implant Clinic

Abstract

A clinical survey was conducted in new patients who visited the Dental Implant Clinic in the Dental Hospital of Tokyo Medical and Dental University at five-year intervals from April 1996 to March 2011. The total number of new patients, gender distribution, age distribution and reasons for their visit each year were calculated and analyzed. The following results were obtained. The number of new patients increased markedly from 275 in 1996 to 1644 in 2011, although the growth rate has showed a decline in recent years. The male-female ratio was 1 to 2 almost every year. By age bracket, the largest number of new patients in each year was those in their 40s and 50s in 1996, 50s in 2001, 50s and 60s in 2006 and 60s in 2011. This trend of aging in new patients may be attributed to the yearly decrease of the number of missing teeth and the difference of consumer propensity by age group. Regarding reasons for their visit, about 80% of the patients sought dental implant treatment. The number of patients who had complaints about previous implant therapy increased year by year, although its proportion to the total number of new patients remained approximately constant. Appropriate measures for such patients with complaints should be established and implemented.