Can Dental Pulp Calcification Predict the Risk of Ischemic Cardiovascular Disease?

Objective: to report the association of pulp calcification with that of cardiovas-cular disease (cvd) using digital panoramic dental radiographs.materials and methods: digital panoramic radiographs of patients referred from the angiography department were included if the patient was under 55 years old and had non-restored or minimally restored molars and canines. an oral and max-illofacial radiologist evaluated the images for pulpal calcifications in the selected teeth. the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of panoramic radiography in predicting cvd were calculated.results: out of 122 patients who met the criteria, 68.2% of the patients with cvd had pulp chamber calcifications. pulp calcification in panoramic radiography had a sensitivity of 68.9% to predict cvd.conclusion: this study demonstrates that patients with cvd show an increased incidence of pulp calcification compared with healthy patients. the findings sug-gest that pulp calcification on panoramic radiography may have possibilities for use in cvd screening.