The ability of pulp sensibility tests to evaluate the pulp status in primary teeth

BACKGROUND. Accurate determination of the pulp status is the most important part of conservative pulp therapy. AIM. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of thermal and electrical pulp tests to assess the pulp status in primary teeth. DESIGN. Seventy-eight primary molar teeth in 36 children were investigated. Fifty-six teeth had unknown pulp status in need of endodontic treatment, and 22 were intact teeth with no signs of pulp disease. Cold, hot and electrical pulp testing (EPT) were performed on each tooth. The gold standard was established by direct inspection of the pulp after an access cavity had been made. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for each test and different sequential combinations of pulp testing were calculated. Sequential combination test analysis was used for data analysis. RESULTS. The highest accuracy was found for EPT, followed by heat and cold tests. No significant difference was found between the accuracy of EPT and the heat test (P-values > 0.05); however, the accuracy of EPT was significantly higher than that of the cold test (P-value< 0.05). CONCLUSION. Based on this study, EPT can be used as a reliable test for diagnosing the pulp status in primary teeth.