Day case oral surgery: a review of 25 years experience at the Dublin Dental Hospital.

A retrospective analysis of the changing work-load at the Dublin Dental Hospital oral surgery day case unit was undertaken. This involved 26,697 operations performed during the 25-year period 1968-1992. The results show how the practice of oral surgery has changed over this time. Annual totals ranged from 766 to 1549 operations. While most categories of operations remained largely unchanged, the removal of impacted third molars increased from 10.5% of the annual total to 57.0%. Routine extractions of permanent teeth decreased from 53.9% of the annual total to 18.0%.