Patterns and Causes of Teeth Extraction among Children Attending Baghdad Dental Teaching Hospital

Aims: To determine patterns and causes of teeth extraction among children attending Baghdad Dental Teaching Hospital. Materials and methods: Total 1055 children participated in this study, ranging from 3 to 14 years old. Sociodemographic data was obtained along with dental information like the type of tooth/teeth extracted, and the reasons behind these extractions. All the data took nine months to be fully collected. Results: During the study period, 1709 teeth were extracted from 1055 children for various reasons. Majority of extractions i.e. 63.6% were done for decay reasons and its related complications. However, 6.61% of teeth were extracted for orthodontic reasons, and only 0.1% of them due to trauma. When comparing between primary and permanent teeth, a higher number of primary teeth 96.8% were extracted. Regarding the causes behind extraction, dental caries was the major cause. Additionally, the lower left first molar was the most frequent extracted tooth in both dentitions. Conclusions: Dental caries and its related pulpal pathologies remain the potential causes of teeth extraction. Lower left first molar was the most commonly extracted tooth in both primary and permanent teeth. These findings would call for extensive dental educational programs to overcome this problem