7 Continental J. Medical Research 1: 7 – 12, 2007 © Wilolud Online Journals, 2007. REASONS FOR EXTRACTION OF PERMANENT TEETH IN A NIGERIAN POPULATION SAMPLE T. E. Okagbare and S. A. B. Ogunwande Department of Preventive Dentistry and *Department of Periodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, College of Health Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka. ABSTRACT With the growth in dental practice in Nigeria has arisen the urgent need to establish base line statistics on the pattern of dental diseases and management; which can also be used to identify the dental needs of our people in order to provide basis for reasonable planning. We have relied for too long on foreign statistics in most of our practice and this is not good enough. We should offer also for correlation our own experiences. This study was carried out to investigate the reasons for extraction of permanent teeth in Nigeria. The records of two hundred and ninety three patients who had a total of 517 permanent teeth extracted within a period of six months in the Dental Clinic of Delta Steel Company Ltd. (DSC), Ovwian-Aladja, Delta State, and the recorded reasons were reviewed. One hundred and forty two patients (48.5%) were males and one hundred and fifty one (51.5%) were females. Caries and its sequelae accounted for over half of all extractions 286(55.3%) and periodontitis was next with 140 (27.1%) and became more frequently responsible of extractions in patientsover 40 years. The teeth most frequently extracted due to caries and its sequelae were lower first molars 48(16.8%), whereas upper second molars were most commonly removed due to periodontitis14(10%). Key words: Reasons, Extraction, Permanent teeth, Nigerian population. INTRODUCTION Marked increases in dental diseases have accompanied a shift in our diet from traditional foods to refined foods in the name of modernization. It was established (Ainamo et al, 1981) that the commonest reason for extraction in every age group in Finland was caries (or its sequelae, including failed restorations). Periodontitis was next most frequent reason. It was again showed (Cahen et al, 1984) that caries was overall the most frequent reason for extraction in France followed by periodontal disease. However for patients over 50 years, periodontitis became the principal reason. These two findings showed that each population has its own characteristic pattern of dental diseases. What are the reasons for dental extraction in Nigeria? This is the question this study is out to answer. A random sample, without ethnic, religious and socio-economic bias was investigated. DSC is cosmopolitan being a Federal Government Parastatal with a work force from all the major and minor ethnic groupings in the country in accordance with the Federal Character Policy. Types of teeth extracted and the effects of the patients’ age and sex were also examined. The number of patients over 60 years that received extractions in this clinic was very small, because the retirement age in DSC is 60 and was therefore ignored. MATERIALS AND METHOD Case records of 293 patients who received extractions between February and July 2006 in the Dental Clinic of Delta Steel Company Ltd; Ovwian-Aladja were retrieved from the Medical Records Unit. Data obtained from each patient’s record included sex, types of teeth extracted, age at extraction and the reasons. The total number of extractions added up to 517.