The aim of the present study was to collect information about primary, secondary, and tertiary reasons that dentists gave for extracting permanent teeth and to determine whether and how dentist-associated characteristics might influence the relative emphasis on clinical diagnosis versus non-disease considerations given as reasons. A national random sample of Norwegian dentists (n = 500) recorded reasons for tooth extraction during a period of 2 weeks in 1988 (response rate, 70%). Nine hundred and eighty-five teeth were extracted from 692 patients. Disease-/condition-related diagnoses topped the list for primary and secondary reasons for extraction, whereas patients' wishes, economy, and esthetics came to the forefront among tertiary reasons. Logistic regression analysis showed that the choice between clinical diagnosis and non-disease considerations as primary and secondary reasons for extraction was significantly but moderately influenced by variables associated with the dentist.