Prevalence of pulp stone (Orthopantomographic-based)

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Zainab H. Al-Ghurabi
Areej A. Najm,

Abstract

Background: Pulp stones (denticles) are discrete calcified aggregates that occur most frequently in the dental pulp.
It was found in healthy, diseased and sometimes in erupted teeth. Its number appears to increase with increasing
age. It is usually detected during radiographic examination as radiopaque masses of variable size and shape. The
aims of this study were to calculate the prevalence of pulp stones in young Iraqi adults by using digital
orthopantomgraph, and to report any associations between occurrence of pulp stones with, gender, tooth type,
and dental arch.
Subject, Material and Method: A total of 390 digital panoramic radiographs were collected from oral diagnosis
department /College of Dentistry for Iraqi sample, University of Baghdad and Al-Karkh General Hospital. The sample
composed of 169 male and 221 female with mean age (26.9 years). About 10510 teeth were evaluated; pulp stones
scored as present or absent, number of stone and associations with, gender, tooth type and dental arch were
recorded
Result: From 390 (OPG) total of 3758 teeth were examined, 136 patients have pulp stone present in (276) teeth.
According to gender, 75 female with 143 teeth (51.8%) and 61 male with 133 teeth (48.1), that is mean there was no
significant difference of ( pulp stone occurrence) found between female and male. Their presence were seldom
found in the premolars 18 teeth (7%) but was much higher in the molars 258 teeth (93%) and the difference is
statistically significant. Pulp stone occurrence was significantly more common in the first molars than in the second
molars and in the first premolars than in the second premolars in each dental arch. No difference between the two
arches could be identified.
Conclusion: Pulp stones are not only incidental radiographic findings of the pulp tissue but may also be an indicator
of some serious underlying disease. On the other hand, they may provide useful information to predict about the
susceptibility of patients for other dystrophic soft tissue calcifications such as urinary calculi and calcified atheromas.

Article Details

How to Cite
Al-Ghurabi, Z. and Najm, A. (1) “Prevalence of pulp stone (Orthopantomographic-based)”, Journal of Baghdad College of Dentistry, 24(2), pp. 80-84. Available at: http://jbcd.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/jbcd/article/view/1273 (Accessed: 29November2019).
Section
Oral Diagnosis