Incidence of False Positive Percussion Test in Adjacent Teeth in Posterior Permanent Maxillary Molars and Anterior Permanent Maxillary Incisors Presenting with Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis with Symptomatic Apical Periodontiti

Objective: To compare the incidence of false positive percussion test in adjacent teeth in posterior permanent maxillary molars and anterior permanent maxillary incisors diagnosed with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis with symptomatic apical periodontitis. Study Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Place and Duration of Study: 5 Military Dental Centre Hyderabad, Pakistan from Nov 2023 to Jan 2024. Methodology: 60 patients (30 male and 30 female) ranging from 20-40 years with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis with symptomatic apical periodontitis presenting to out-patient department were selected through convenience sampling. They were tested for incidence of false positive percussion test in adjacent teeth in maxillary posterior molars and maxillary anterior incisors. Chi square statistics were used to compare the groups. Results: The patients selected for posterior maxillary molars percussion test for adjacent teeth revealed 04(13%) patients with no pain, 05(17%) patients with mild pain, 06(20%) patients with moderate pain, 15(50%) patients with severe pain. The patients selected for anterior maxillary incisors percussion test for adjacent teeth revealed 15(50%) patients with no pain, 07(23%) patients with mild pain, 06(20%) patients with moderate pain and 02(7%) patients with severe pain on percussion. The p-value was 0.001 which is highly significant. Conclusion: The incidence of false positive percussion test in adjacent teeth in posterior maxillary molars is more as compared to the maxillary anterior incisors.