Prevalence of taurodontism in Jordanian dental patients

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of taurodontism in a group of Jordanian adult dental patients. METHODS: Posterior periapical radiographs of 875 unselected dental patients were examined for the presence of taurodontism defined as the presence of an apically displaced pulp chamber without the usual constriction at the cemento-enamel junction. RESULTS: Taurodontism was detected in 8% of subjects and 4.4% of the teeth examined. The maxillary second molar was the most commonly affected tooth. It was equally distributed between males and females (7.9% compared with 8.1% respectively, P > 0.05). 26.7% of the taurodont teeth also had pulp stones or calcifications. CONCLUSION: Taurodontism is not uncommon in Jordan but further larger scale studies are required to assess its prevalence in the general population to compare it with other ethnic groups.