A radiographic evaluation of the prevalence of pulp stones

Abstract

Pulp stones are calcified masses that can be found in both the coronal and radicular pulp. The aim of this study is to determine the pulp stone prevalence in posterior teeth using digital panoramic radiographs. One thousand five hundred high-quality panoramic radiographs from an open-access dataset were evaluated. A total of 4,056 teeth on 256 panoramic radiographs that met the criteria were investigated to detect pulp stones. Pulp stones were detected in 664 (16.4%) of the evaluated teeth. They were more frequently found in molars compared to premolars. (p=0.000) When the jaws were compared, the pulp stone prevalence was higher in the maxillary arch than in the mandibular arch. (p=0.000) Digital panoramic radiographs are an effective imaging tool for diagnosing dental pathologies and are suitable for identifying pulp stone.