Reasons for tooth extraction in four general dental practices in South Wales

Abstract

Tooth retention has been one of the main aims of oral care which in turn could have contributed to the social oral health divide. To investigate this issue further, data collected for a group audit was used to study the reasons for tooth extraction for patients attending for routine treatment at four dental practices. The practices served populations in areas with different levels of deprivation in South Wales. In 558 teeth extracted over 417 visits, the reasons for extractions were: caries 59%, periodontal disease 29.1%, pre-prosthetic 1%, wisdom teeth 4.6%, orthodontic 5.5%, trauma 1.2%, patient request 2.4% and 6.2% other reason. The number of extraction visits per day within the group of dental surgeons varied with three practitioners performing more than three extraction visits per day while one practitioner had only 0.51. These reasons did not significantly depend on levels of deprivation. However, significantly more teeth were extracted for caries in the most deprived group in comparison to the least deprived. Therefore, could there be a case for appropriate extractions in the quest for equitable care?

Reasons for Teeth Extraction in Governmental Hospitals in Madinah City, Saudi Arabia

“…However, our percentage of permanent-tooth extraction due to caries was higher than that indicated in the previous studies. Also, all of the previous studies [3,4,7,15,16] indicated that periodontal disease was the secondmost common reason for extraction, which is different from our results. The reason forthis difference cannot be identifiedby our results.…”

“…Our results are similar to the findings in previous literature forthe same Arabic region [7,15,16] and internationally [3,4],whichindicate that caries is the most common cause underlyingextraction. However, our percentage of permanent-tooth extraction due to caries was higher than that indicated in the previous studies.…”

“…Most of the studies suggest the reasons are related to caries, periodontal disease, trauma, orthodontic treatment, and prosthodontics [3][4][5]. Many have found that caries is the primary reason for tooth extractions in young people [6,7].…”

“…In South Wales and Scotland, studies found that dental caries was the main underlying cause for tooth extractions [3,4]. However, in Singapore and Italy, periodontal disease and caries were to blame equally as the main reasons for tooth extractions [8,9].…”

Reasons for Permanent Tooth Extractions in Taiwan

“…Surveys to investigate the reasons for tooth extractions have been performed in many countries or areas, [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] and the methods and criteria adopted were similar among these surveys. Some studies found that dental caries was the main reason for tooth extraction*; others found that periodontal disease was more important 6,9,18 or equally frequent.…”