Changes in Demographics of Patients Undergoing Third Molar Surgery in a Hospital Setting Between 1994 and 2012 and the Influence of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guidelines

Abstract

To evaluate changes in demographics of patients undergoing third molar surgery (TMS). This retrospective study used the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes F091 and F093 to generate data on patients (N = 10,447) undergoing TMS from 1994 through 2012 at the authors' institution. The data is described in terms of mean, median, mode and were analyzed using analysis of variance and the Student t test. Fewer female patients were treated after implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The mean patient age increased from 29 years (1994) to 36 years (2012), with the median increasing from 27 to 31 years (P < .001). There was a significant difference in the age of patients treated before and after the introduction of the NICE guidelines (P < .001). The increase in age appears to be influenced by the NICE guidelines. Given the increased risk of complications in older patients, consideration should be given to the removal of a similarly impacted, asymptomatic, contralateral third molar without obvious radiographic relation to the inferior dental canal, if a young patient is undergoing general anesthesia.