1988 Volume 34 Issue 6 Pages 1155-1161
As shown in the fact that a number of patients with maxillary inflammation, oral tumor or maxillofacial fracture visit oral surgery department clinics in hospitals specifically of university via private dental clinics, the relationship between private dental clinics and the oral surgery department clinic in hospitals is very important and will become closer in the future as progress is made in dental or oral and maxillofacial surgery. However, no detailed statistical information is available on patients referred from private dental clinics to oral surgery department clinics in hospitals. Hence we performed a clinical and statistical survey on the patients referred from private dental clinics to our oral surgery department clinic during a one-year period from January to December, 1986.
1. The total number of patients referred from private dental clinics was 376 including 169 males and 207 females, which was 26.1% of all new patients appearing at the out-patient clinic during the year.
2. Patients aged 30-39 were most frequent (18.3%).
3. Of all the patients referred from private dental clinics, 304 (80.9%) were from the southern area of Okinawa Island.
4. The lesions of the referred patients were: inflammatory diseases, 127 cases (33.7%), malformations and developmental abnormalities, 40 cases (10.6%), tumors and tumorous lesions, 39 cases (10.3%), diseases of the salivary glands, 27 cases (7.1%), disorders of the temporomandibular joint, 23 cases (6.1%), injuries, 19 cases (5.5%), mucosal lesions, 13 cases (3.4%), facial pain and some cranial nerve diseases, 11 cases (2.9%), and others, 39 cases (10.3%).
5. Referred in-patients included 67 cases, which was 17.8% of the total patients referred from private dental clinics. In these cases, inflammatory diseases accounted for 16 cases (23.8%), cysts for 12 cases (17.9%) and benign tumors for 11 cases (16.4%).
6. Of all the patients referred from private dental clinics, forty-five operation (11.9%) were performed mainly under general anesthesia in the central operating room, among which were 20 tumors (44.4%) and 10 cysts (22.2%).
