Reasons for extraction of permanent teeth in Greece: a five-year follow-up study.

Aim: To investigate the reasons for tooth extraction and their correlations with age and gender in Greece.
Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 1,018 patients, 560 males and 458 females, aged 18-74 years from a private practice in Greece. Each patient's age, gender, number of extracted teeth and the reasons for the extraction were recorded for a period of 5 years.
Results: Two thousand four hundred and eighteen permanent teeth were extracted for various reasons during the study period. The results showed that the main reasons for extraction were caries (45.6%), periodontal disease (32.1%), failed root canal treatment (7.3%) and root fracture (4.4%). Caries was the main reason for extraction in patients up to 44 years old (64.7%), while periodontal disease was the main reason for extraction in patients over years of age (77.6%). Maxillary and mandibular 1st and 2nd molars, were the most frequently extracted teeth due to dental caries. Premolars of the mandible and maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth were the most frequently extracted teeth due to periodontal disease.
Conclusions: Although the targets of the WHO regarding the reduction of dental caries were accomplished, dental caries and periodontal disease are still the main reasons for tooth extraction regardless of the age of the patients.
(© 2011 FDI World Dental Federation.)