Extraction of teeth over 5 years in regularly attending adults

This prospective study was conducted to describe the incidence of tooth extraction in a group of regularly attending adults and to assess factors that are predictive of tooth loss.

Baseline and annual incremental clinical data were obtained from 23 general dental practitioners on a group of their regularly attending, dentate adult patients over a 5-year period. The patients completed a postal questionnaire with questions relating to dental health behaviours, attitudes and knowledge, and social factors.

Complete clinical data were obtained from 2799 patients. Four hundred and seventy (17%) patients underwent extractions, 72% of which were posterior teeth. The majority of extractions were for reasons other than caries (79%). Bivariate analyses revealed many significant differences between patients who underwent extractions and those who did not, with respect to the clinical, social, behavioural and attitudinal variables. The logistic regression model for tooth loss included three clinical variables, number of teeth, crowns and sites with recession. Other variables in the final model included the dentist's and patient's prediction of treatment need, having sensitive teeth, having a sweet tooth, living alone and smoking. The sensitivity for the model was 0.57 with specificity 0.72.

This study is unique in its examination of patients and has highlighted that both clinical and other factors are important in predicting who will undergo extractions. Future investigations should assess the consequence of having extractions in terms of health benefit or detriment.