The provision of oral surgery services in England and Wales 1984-1991

Data from the Department of Health and the Dental Practice Board demonstrate substantial increases in the volume of oral surgery performed in England and Wales both in the General Dental and Hospital Services during the period 1984-1991. In the General Dental Service, although the number of routine extractions decreased by 10%, the number of surgical procedures increased by 20%, with a substantial increase (33%) in the number of third molar extractions in the period 1988-1991. There have been no decreases in the annual rate of extractions of permanent and deciduous teeth in the GDS since 1987. In at least one Regional Health Authority, there was a five-fold increase in the number of oral surgery patients aged 0-9 years treated in the hospital service (1982-1991). Overall, although this study takes no account of extractions carried out in the Community Service, these findings suggest that numbers of deciduous extractions may have actually risen in some areas, particularly after 1987. In the Hospital Service there was a 55% increase in numbers of day-cases, from 30,090 (1984) to 46,499 (1990); a 10% increase in throughput of in-patients and a 13% decrease in numbers of people waiting for in-patient surgery. These changes were in the same direction as those in plastic and ENT surgery; though plastic surgery achieved a greater utilisation of day-care services. The implications of these changes and their possible effect on the future provision of oral and maxillofacial surgery services are discussed.