Pulp stones and dental pain

Abstract

A case is reported of a 42 year-old female who presented with the painful upper left first molar. Comprehensive clinical examination did not reveal the cause of the pain which got progressively worse. The tooth was extracted on the insistence of the patient. Microscopic examination of multiple sections of the decalcified tooth showed a large freestone which occupied most of the pulp chamber and was closely related to a nerve bundle. The finding tended to support the view that pulp stones in an apparently healthy tooth may cause toothache.