74%) of the 6124 premolars and in 2162 (31.78%) of the 6804 molars examined, with differences in occurrence being selleckchem statistically significant (P < 0.001). The frequency of pulp stones was higher in the first molars than in the second molars in each dental arch and when data for both arches were combined (P < 0.001, Table 4). However, in maxilla second premolars more occurred than first premolars whereas a in mandible first premolars accounted more than in second premolars. There were no statistically significant differences between the right and the left side in each tooth type and arch.Table 3The distribution of pulp stone according to dental arches and location.Table 4The occurrence of pulp stones in each tooth type, arch, and location.4. DiscussionPulp stones are calcifications that are found in the pulp chamber or pulp canals of teeth.

Structurally, pulp stones can be classified as true or false, the former being made of dentine and lined by odontoblasts, whereas false pulp stones are formed from degenerating cells of the pulp that gets mineralized [24].Review of the literature reveals a wide discrepancy in the prevalence of pulp stones in different populations. This difference results from the variation in sample and sample size in previous studies. Furthermore, the presentations of prevalence were also different in the literature. Some investigations presented the prevalence based on person and teeth numbers [22, 23], and the others reported only the prevalence based on teeth number [18, 25]. The results of the present study on a group of Turkish dental patients have shown an overall prevalence of 63.

6% for individuals and 18.5% for all teeth examined teeth. This figure is higher than the results of the study by Ranjitker et al. [20] (10.3) young Australian adults and Baghdady et al. [25] (14.8) among teenage Iraqi group and less than the study by Hamasha et al. among Jordanians (22.4%). These variations in prevalence between different populations may be due to ethnic variations and geographical differences. A recent study performed in Turkish population revealed the prevalence of pulp stones 15% [22] and 5% [23], respectively, which were lower than our findings. These contradictory findings in the same population may be explained with marked differences in the sample size.According to the present results, there were no significant differences between left and right side occurrence (P > 0.

05). This finding is similar to recent reports on a Turkish population [22] and Australians [20]. However, previously published studies [18, 20, 23, 25] not highlighted to pulp stones right or left side occurrence.The prevalence Carfilzomib of pulp stones in our sample was more frequently encountered in females than in males with significant differences between the genders in each tooth type and arch. This finding is similar to recent reports on a Iraq teenagers [25] and Turkish population [22, 26].