Principles of Exodontia.

Exodontia services comprise the largest portion of clinical practice for most oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the United States. This article is an overview of the principles of exodontia including the physics principles underlying the appropriate use of dental elevators and forceps. Failure to understand the instrumentation and the physics principles being used can cause prolonged operative time, iatrogenic injury to the patient, and unnecessary fatigue and/or injury to the provider. Advances in materials, technology, and innovative design have produced interesting new instruments for exodontia. New instruments including periotomes, piezosurgery, physics forceps, and vertical extraction systems are introduced and reviewed.