Five-year span prevalence of post-extraction complications in Tabora municipality between January 2004 and December 2008

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the magnitude of post extraction complications and related diagnoses among patients who had attended dental clinics in Tabora Municipality from January 2004 to December 2008. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study involved a total of 218 eligible patients, who re-attended at Kitete Hospital and urban health facilities. Information source was from the dental records as detailed in register books and in the out patient cards. The relevant pre-operative information recorded for each patient included diagnosis leading to extraction, tooth/teeth removed and post extraction complication acquired. The collected data were processed and analyzed using SPSS program files, Chi Square statistic was used to test for statistical significance. Results: Out of the eligible 218 patients, 90.4%, (n=197) were evaluated. The most frequent diagnosis was dental caries 93% (n=183); followed by periodontal diseases 5.1% (n=10) and trauma 2.0% (n=4). The most frequently affected tooth was the left lower first molar 12.7% (n=25); followed by the lower right first molar 12.2% (n=24); lower right second molar 11.7% (n=23) and lower left second molar 11.2% (n=22). The most frequent post extraction complication was an infected socket in 90.9% (n=179), followed by alveolar osteitis and bleeding socket 4.6% (n=9). Conclusion: The majority of post extraction complications were infected sockets with prevalence 90.9% and they are not associated with initial diagnosis and type of tooth extracted. However, the problem of record keeping was obvious. Key words: Initial diagnosis, tooth extracted, post-extraction complications, hospital records.