Determining predictability and accuracy of thermal and electrical dental pulp tests: An in vivo study

Determining predictability and accuracy of thermal and electrical dental pulp tests: An in vivo study

Pulp sensitivity testing, even with its limitations and shortcomings, has been and still remains a very helpful aid in endodontic diagnosis. Pulp sensitivity tests extrapolate pulpal health from the sensory response. The aim of the present study was to identify the sensitivity, specificity, positive...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of conservative dentistry Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 46 - 49
Main Authors: Salgar, Avinash Ramchandra, Singh, Shishir H, Podar, Rajesh S, Kulkarni, Gaurav P, Babel, Shashank N
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01-01-2017
Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd
Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd
Subjects:
Accuracy
Analysis
Bleeding
Cold
Dental pulp
Dentistry
Endocrine diseases
Endodontics
Heat
Original
Pain
Patients
Researchers
Sensitivity training
Studies
Teeth
predictive value
sensitivity value
thermal pulp test
Electrical pulp test
specificity value
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Summary:Pulp sensitivity testing, even with its limitations and shortcomings, has been and still remains a very helpful aid in endodontic diagnosis. Pulp sensitivity tests extrapolate pulpal health from the sensory response. The aim of the present study was to identify the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (NPVs) of thermal and electrical tests of pulp sensitivity. Pulp tests studied were two cold and heat tests respectively and electrical test. A total of 330 teeth were tested: 198 teeth with vital pulp and 132 teeth with necrotic pulps (disease prevalence of 40%). The ideal standard was established by observing bleeding within the pulp chamber. Sensitivity values of the diagnostic tests were 0.89 and 0.94 for cold test, 0.84 and 0.87 for the heat tests, and 0.75 for electrical pulp test and the specificity values of the diagnostic tests were 0.91 and 0.93 for the cold tests, 0.86 and 0.84 for the heat tests, and 0.90 for electrical pulp test. The NPVs were 0.91 and 0.96 for the cold tests, 0.89 and 0.91 for the heat tests, and 0.84 for electrical pulp test. The positive predictive values were 0.89 and 0.90 for the cold tests, 0.80 and 0.79 for the heat tests and 0.88 for electrical pulp test. The highest accuracy (0.9393) was observed with cold test (icy spray). The cold test done with icy spray was the most accurate method for sensitivity testing.
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ISSN:0972-0707
0974-5203
DOI:10.4103/0972-0707.209067