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Pulp sensibility test in elderly patients
Author(s) -
Farac Roberta Vieira,
Morgental Renata Dornelles,
de Pontes Lima Regina Karla,
Tiberio Denise,
dos Santos Maria Teresa Botti Rodrigues
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
gerodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1741-2358
pISSN - 0734-0664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-2358.2012.00623.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pulp (tooth) , dentistry , mann–whitney u test , orthodontics , significant difference
doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2012.00623.x
Pulp sensibility test in elderly patients Background: The ageing process transforms the histological composition of the dental pulp and may affect the response to pulp sensibility tests. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the influence of age on pulp response time and on pain intensity. Material and methods: Fifty elderly patients and 50 young patients were selected. Different classes of teeth were evaluated. The pulp sensibility test was performed with a refrigerant spray. The pulp response time was measured in seconds and the pain intensity was assessed by visual analogue scale. Results: The Spearman coefficient was calculated and detect a positive correlation between age and pulp response time for maxillary incisors, premolars, mandibular incisors, and mean ( p < 0.05). On the contrary, there was a negative correlation between age and pain intensity for maxillary incisors, mandibular incisors, and mean ( p < 0.05). Also, the results of elderly and young groups were compared by Mann–Whitney test. Significant difference was noted regarding the pulp response time for maxillary incisors, premolars, mandibular incisors, and mean ( p < 0.05). Significant difference was detected regarding the pain intensity for mandibular incisors only ( p < 0.05). Conclusions: Pulp response time increases when people get older while pain intensity decreases. There were variations among the classes of teeth.