Prevalence of taurodontism in dental patients referred to two radiology centers in Tehran, Iran during 2009‒2011

Introduction: Few studies have assessed the prevalence of taurodontism in Iranian populations. The aim of this descriptive study was to investigate the frequency of taurodont teeth among dental patients attending two radiology centers in Tehran, Iran.Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, panoramic radiographs of 150 men and 150 women were obtained from two radiology centers in Tehran, and the prevalence of taurodontism was evaluated in those radiographs by a dental practitioner. Data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 16 using chi-squared test (α = 0.05).Results: Prevalence of taurodontism was 5.7% in this study (6.7% in women, 4.7% in men). Chi-squared test did not show significant differences in the prevalence of this anomaly between men and women (p value = 0.623). The difference between jaws was not significant either (p value = 0.098). In addition, the difference in the prevalence of taurodontism among molars was not statistically significant (p value = 0.060).Conclusion: The prevalence of taurodontism in the population under study was similar to that reported by researchers in Iran and others in white populations. Key words: Molar tooth, Prevalence, Taurodontis