Title: Prospective outcomes of management of third molar extractions via a large multicenter study

1.0 Abstract. The outcomes of the surgical management of impacted third molars are known to be influenced by many factors including the complexity of the extraction, age of the patient and underlying health of the patient. Although individual reports of complications have been published, a prospective and large scale review has not been reported. Since there is significant variability in practice patterns, particularly the use of antibiotics of various regimens, collating the results of a large numbers may provide a better understanding of what the true risks are and which antibiotic strategies are associated with improved outcomes. A Practice Based Research Network (PBRN) recruiting up to 100 practitioners and each prospectively reporting up to 50 cases to generate a significant amount of prospective data on relevant clinical research questions. It is expected that there is not uniformity in practice of antibiosis related to surgical management of third molars and this data may provide some information on trends that positively or negatively influence outcomes, both short and long term. 2.0 Purpose of the study. The objective of this study is to determine the clinical outcomes of the currently varying practices in antibiotic management of patients undergoing surgical extraction of third molars by prospectively collecting data through a Practice-based Research Network (PBRN). We plan to conduct a prospective study on patients with diagnosis of soft tissue or partial or full bony third molar impaction. By analyzing this data, we will determine the outcomes of the various antibiotic therapies used in patients with third molar impaction surgical and identify factors which predict successful outcomes of different treatment regimens in specific sub-groups of those patients with these conditions. Initial analysis of the data collected will focus on the underlying diagnoses, antibiotic type, regimen, duration antibiotic-related complications, and third molar surgical extraction-related complications. We plan to assess all data by comparison of antibiotic therapies by CDT codes and chart review between all patients who met inclusion criteria for the study. We anticipate that future studies will be developed from this data base with specific possibilities including patient quality of life and more detailed analysis of impacted third molars management clinical outcomes using other methods to prevent infections and related complications.