Caries, the culprit of tooth loss among patients in a tertiary health facility in the south west of Nigeria: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Tooth loss is an irreversible dental health condition affecting an individual’s oral health-related quality of life. Dental caries has been implicated as one of the factors associated with tooth loss.OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate untreated dental caries and their contribution to tooth loss and determine the pattern of tooth loss among patients in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), a tertiary institution in South West Nigeria.METHODOLOGY: A retrospective study using the dental records of patients who attended the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic, LASUTH, for tooth extraction from 2021 to 2023. Data was extracted on the indication for extraction. Data was collected and analyzed using a computer software programme, Statistical (SPSS, IBM) Version 25. Associations between variables were assessed using a chisquare test. P-value <0.05 was considered to be significant at 95% CI.RESULTS: A total of 11,300 patients’ records were retrieved. There were 11,275 records with complete data, of which 5,378(47.7%) weremales and 5,897(52.3%) were females. Total number of teeth extracted was 16,316. Toothache (82.5%) was the most common reason for dental visits. Dental caries were observed to be the main reason for tooth extraction, accounting for 11,754(72.0%) of total teeth extracted (16,316). Those aged 26-35 years experienced more tooth loss (33.9%) due to dental caries. Mandibular molars (52.6%) accounted for the majority of teeth that had been extracted due to dental caries.CONCLUSION: Untreated dental caries was the main cause of tooth loss (72%) due to extractions. The prevalence of tooth loss was higher in younger adults and females. Mandibular molars are extracted most frequently.