Oral surgery. Diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment planning considerations.

The surgical management of a patient begins at the moment of presentation for treatment and does not end until the problem is resolved and health restored. Alternatively, referral may be good management in some cases. Any procedure accomplished along the way is but one event in the course of overall surgical management. A regard for the basic requirements and principles of good surgery integrated with a careful consideration of the treatment planning and prognostic indicators for the removal of teeth completes a sequential evaluation of the total patient, his pathosis and his ability to tolerate and respond to the treatment. Guiding principles, careful procedures and continued postoperative concern form a triad of good practice.