Objectives: In both elective surgeries and aviation, a reduction of complications can be expected by paying attention to the so-called human factors. Checklists are a well-known way to overcome some of these problems. We aimed to evaluate the current evidence regarding the use of checklists in implant dentistry.
Methods: An electronic literature search was conducted in the following databases: CINHAL, Medline, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library until March 2022. Based on the results and additional literature, a preliminary checklist for surgical implant therapy was designed.
Results: Three publications dealing with dental implants and checklists were identified. One dealt with the use of a checklist in implant dentistry and was described as a quality assessment study. The remaining two studies offered suggestions for checklists based on literature research and expert opinion.
Conclusions: Based on our results, the evidence for the use of checklists in dental implantology is extremely low. Considering the great potential, it can be stated that there is a need to catch up. While creating a new implant checklist, we took care of meeting the criteria for high-quality checklists. Future controlled studies will help to place it on a broad foundation.
Clinical relevance: Checklists are a well-known way to prevent complications. They are especially established in aviation, but many surgical specialties and anesthesia adopt this successful concept. As implantology has become one of the fastest-growing areas of dentistry, it is imperative that checklists become an integral part of it.
Keywords: Checklists; Dental surgery; Human factors; Implantology.
© 2022. The Author(s).