PIP: Alveolitis after tooth extraction is the most frequent healing disorder after the most frequent surgery in man. Various factors affect the frequency of alveolitis. Alveolitis risk is much higher in the lower jaw than the upper, especially in the lower molar region. Healing prospects are worse for both middle-aged men and women, with women developing alveolitis more frequently. This seems to be due to the hormonal situation, and the effect of menstrual cycle phases. Alveolitis risk is significantly higher when teeth with acute apical periodontitis or pulpitis are removed, compared to extraction of healthy teeth or periodontally damaged teeth. Healing disorders are more frequent after complicated extraction, for example, 3 times higher when the tooth fractures. Best results are obtained with an immediate denture. Sponge insertion and suturing are much more subject to complications. Among smokers, occasional cigarette users tend toward more alveolitis than non-smokers. Alveolitis among heavy smokers was statistically the same as that among non-smokers. Smoking and oral contraceptives resulted in alveolitis in 1 out of 4 extractions. Surprisingly, patients practicing good oral hygiene after extraction had the highest percentage of alveolitis, those with poor hygiene much less. Use of a vaso-constructive admixture of noradrenaline (0.001%) yielded the smallest number of alveolitis cases. However local anesthesia without a vasoconstructor resulted in alveolitis at the same rate as use of adrenalin.