Diagnostic Value of Dental Pulp Electric Vitality Testing for Irreversible Pulpitis

doi:10.16458/j.cnki.1007-0893.2025.11.018

Abstract：Objective: To explore the diagnostic value of dental pulp electric vitality testing for irreversible pulpitis. Methods: A total of 80 patients with pulpitis treated at the Third People's Hospital of Puyang City from January 2022 to January 2024 were selected as the study subjects. According to the diagnostic criteria of the American Association of Endodontists, they were divided into the reversible group (37 cases) and the irreversible group (43 cases). The age, gender, type of affected tooth, educational level, smoking history, duration of pain, periapical status, disease condition, electric vitality sensation, and electric vitality difference were compared between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the influencing factors of pulpitis, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to analyze the diagnostic value of electric vitality testing in assessing pulpitis. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of age, gender, type of affected tooth, educational level, or smoking history (P > 0.05). The irreversible group had longer duration of pain, higher proportion of dark shadow in the periapical area, higher proportion of acute conditions, larger electric vitality difference, and higher proportion of negative electric vitality sensation compared to the reversible group (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that duration of pain, presence of dark shadow in the periapical area, acute condition, negative electric vitality sensation, and electric vitality difference were all risk factors for pulpitis (P < 0.05). The ROC curve results showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for the combined assessment of electric vitality sensation and electric vitality difference was 0.743. After pairwise algorithm testing, the AUC after combination was better than that of any single prediction, with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of dental pulp electric vitality testing have high sensitivity but low specificity in the diagnosis of pulpitis, which is helpful for the differential diagnosis of irreversible pulpitis.