Symptoms and lesions associated with retained or partially erupted third molars. Some variables of third-molar surgery in Norwegian general practice.

A questionnaire on third-molar problems was mailed to a systematic random sample of 200 Norwegian general dental practitioners in November 1991. A 88% return rate was obtained. The following conclusions were drawn: on an average, 3.8 patients with lesions or complaints from retained or partially erupted third molars were seen in general practice in 1 month, and most of these consultations were associated with partially erupted third molars. A mean of 1.3 surgical removals of third molars was performed in general practice in 1 month. The mean one-way travel time for patients to specialists in oral surgery was 1.3 h, and variations were not related to surgical activity in practice. Fourteen per cent of the general practitioners refer surgical cases to non-specialists.