Dental practitioners should interpret responses to electrical pulp testing cautiously in orthodontic patients; thermal testing may be more reliable.

This study showed that the awareness and attitude between the medical and paramedical staff to prosthetic needs is better than between general populations. The demands for dental replacement by patients were significantly different when compared with the actual needs.

Objective: To investigate the difference in effectiveness of Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics (EMLA) and Benzocaine as a topical anesthetic in palatal injection Methods: Forty volunteers from dental department at Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein Military Hospital participated in the study. 5% EMLA cream or 20% Benzocaine gel were applied to either side of the hard palate opposite the maxillary first premolars. A short needle was inserted at site of topical anesthetic application at 3, 6 and 9 minutes until it touches the bone and the volunteers assisted the pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS) where 0 indicated "no pain" and 10 indicated "unbearable pain" Results: EMLA found to be associated with less pain than Benzocaine at all applied times and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between intergroups of EMLA or between those of Benzocaine. EMLA found to be associated with less VAS values than Benzocaine and the difference was statistically significant Conclusion: 5% EMLA was more effective than 20% Benzocaine gel as a topical anesthetic agent in palatal injection.

Objectives: To investigate clinically and radiographically the number of roots and root canals in the maxillary first premolars in a group of Jordanian population using magnifying loupes while carrying out routine endodontic practice. Methods: A total of 176 patients 87 female (49.4%) and 89 male (50.6%) received root canal treatment of maxillary first premolar at King Hussein Medical Centre from January 2012 till January 2015. The age of the patients was ranging from 18 to 60 years. The teeth included in the study were both clinically and radiographically examined for the number of root canals using sharp endodontic explorer and magnifying loupes. Diagnostic preoperative radiographs were taken for evaluation. Two radiographs in two planes (parallel and 20ᵒ-40ᵒ horizontal angle cone shift) were taken during routine endodontic treatment for these teeth. The number of roots and root canals in the maxillary first premolars was recorded. Results: Out of the total of 176 maxillary first premolars 56 teeth had one root (31.8%), 118 teeth had two roots (67.0%) and two teeth had three roots (1.1%). Based on Vertucci's classification of root canal morphology: one tooth (0.6%) had type I canal configuration (one canal), 17 teeth (9.7%) had type II (two canals with shared apical foramen), 156 teeth (88.6%) had type IV (two canals with separate apical foramen) and two teeth (1.1%) had type VIII (three canals with separate apical foramina). The percentage of two canals (type II and IV) is 98.3%. Conclusion: The percentage of two canals (either with shared or separate apical foramina) is very high in the maxillary first premolars in Jordanian population. Inspection should be done for the presence of second canal whenever endodontic treatment is planned for this tooth.

No abstract