Hospitalisations for removal of impacted teeth in Australia: a national geographic modeling approach.

INTRODUCTION The aim of the study was to project hospitalisation rates for the surgical removal of impacted teeth across Australia, based on Western Australian statistics. METHODS Population data were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and were divided across Australia by statistical local area and related to a validated socioeconomic index. Every episode of discharge from all hospitals in Western Australia for the financial years 1999/2000 to 2008/2009 indicating an impacted/embedded tooth removal as the principle oral condition, as classified by the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10AM), was included in the study. Hospitalisation data were obtained from the Western Australian Hospital Morbidity Data System. Variables of age, place of residence and health insurance status were utilised for projecting the Western Australian rates across Australia. RESULTS The results of the study showed a definite rural-urban divide and the estimated age-adjusted rates were almost three times greater in the higher socioeconomic areas when compared to their poorer counterparts. The costs of the procedure were estimated to be approximately $60 million per annum across Australia. CONCLUSION The findings of this study can be used to inform health policy to guide proper allocation of resources and target services for the benefit of the community especially those residing in rural and remote areas in a vast country like Australia.