Level of difficulty of tooth extractions among roughly 100,000 procedures in primary care

The study examined treatment codes of extracted teeth and aimed to assess degree of difficulty concerning all tooth extractions.

Retrospective data on treatment codes of all tooth extractions during a two-year period were obtained from the patient register in primary oral healthcare of the City of Helsinki, Finland. Prevalence, indication, and method of extraction appeared in the treatment codes (EBA-codes). Degree of difficulty was determined from the method and classified as non-operative or operative and as routine or demanding. Statistics included frequencies, percentages, and χ² test.

Total number of extraction procedures was 97,276, including 121,342 extracted teeth. The most frequent procedure was a routine extraction of a tooth with forceps (55%, n = 53,642). The main reason for extraction was caries (27%, n = 20,889). Of the extractions, 79% (n = 76,435) were non-operative, 13% (n = 12,819) operative, and 8% (n = 8,022) multiple extractions in one visit. Level of difficulty was distributed as routine non-operative (63%), demanding non-operative (15%), routine operative (12%), demanding operative (2%), and multiple extractions (8%).

Two-thirds of all tooth extractions in primary care were relatively simple. However, 29% of procedures were classified as demanding.

As earlier methods for assessing level of difficulty were aimed at third molars alone, an analysis was presented for all tooth extractions. This approach may be useful for research purposes, and the profile of tooth extractions and their difficulty level may be practical also for decision-makers in primary care.