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Patient Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment Planning
Establishing Realistic Patient Expectations
The use of dental implants in dentistry has allowed clinicians to offer an expanded repertoire of treatment options to patients for the management of missing teeth. Advances in implant materials, techniques, and training, coupled with increased patient awareness of implant treatment serve to heighten the need for clinicians to be well-versed in the realities of implant treatment in terms of what patients should expect with respect to success and survival rates, potential complications, and modes of failures, to name a few. Not only is it important for clinicians to be knowledgeable about the science, but it is equally important that patients are made aware of these realities in a way that allows them to make informed and realistic decisions about their proposed treatment.
This Learning Pathway will discuss the various aspects of the literature regarding implant treatment in which clinicians should be well-versed, as well as introducing techniques to effectively communicate this information to patients in the process of informed consent.

On completion of this Learning Pathway you should be able to:
- identify strategies for effective communication of implant treatment realities to patients
- explain the importance of managing patient expectations within both the clinical and medico-legal contexts
- outline the key information pertaining to the reported success and survival of various implant treatment modalities and prostheses
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