Reasons and Pattern of Tooth Extraction Among Patients Presenting at A Nigerian Semi-rural Specialist Hospital.

Background: Oral health is greatly influenced by health teeth.Objective: The study is to determine the reasons and pattern of tooth extraction in patients seeking care at the oral surgery/Dental clinic in Rasheed Shekoni Specialist Hospital, Dutse, Jigawa between January 2010 and December 2011.Methods: A retrospective review of records of dental extraction patients. Patients' records were analyzed for demographics, reason(s) for tooth extraction and tooth/teeth extracted.Results: During the 2 years study period, 349 patients (M:F=1.3:1) aged 2-65 years (mean = 29.7 years ± 11.5 SD) had extraction of 377 teeth. Dental caries and its sequelae (91.2%) was the most frequent reason for tooth extraction across all age groups, followed distantly by periodontal disease (3.2%) and recurrent pericoronitis (3.0%). The highest proportion of extraction occurred between age 21 to 30 years of age. Mandibular first molars were the most commonly extracted tooth due to dental caries, followed by maxillary first and mandibular second molars. Mandibular molars were by far the more frequently extracted than maxillary molars.Conclusion: Dental caries and its sequelae was the main reason for removal of teeth in this section of Nigerian population. Therefore, there is urgent need to focus on the prevention and treatment of dental caries and its sequelae in order to maintain functional and healthy teeth throughout life.Keywords: Dental Caries and it's sequelae, Periodontal disease and reason for extraction