Appropriateness of referrals for removal of wisdom teeth

A 6-month prospective study of 166 patients was undertaken to assess whether general dental practitioners who referred patients for removal of wisdom teeth were following current national guidelines. It was found that 92% of referrals followed the guidelines of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. There were 13 inappropriate referrals – 3 patients were asymptomatic, 9 patients had a single episode of pericoronitis and 1 had crowding of the lower anterior incisors. General dental practitioners in this study seem to be following current guidelines consistently. No teeth were removed prophylactically.