2.

Estimated Third-Molar Extractions Per Year, by Doctor Performing Extraction: United States

	No. of Extractions	Cost,a $	No. of Patients	No. of Lower Third-Molar Extractions	Patient Days of Standard Discomfort or Disabilityb
Oral and maxillofacial surgeons	7 000 000	2 852 500 000	3 500 000	3 500 000	7 950 000
General practitioners	3 000 000	450 000 000	1 500 000	1 500 000	3 410 000
Total	10 000 000	3 302 500 000	5 000 000	5 000 000	11 360 000

Source. See reference 2.

^aEstimate based on an average fee of $500 for 1 upper and 1 lower third-molar extraction for oral and maxillofacial surgeons, $75 for radiographs, $300 for general anesthesia or intravenous sedation in 80% of cases, and $300 for an upper and lower third-molar extraction for general practitioners. According to these estimates, the average income from third-molar extractions for 5500 oral and maxillofacial surgeons would be $518 636.

^bAverage per patient is 2.27 days.