RESUMO
Dental caries and its sequel pulpitis, is one of the most common complaint with which the patient attends a dental office. The diagnosis of of puplitis involves distinguishing the two types, i.e.; the reversible and irreversible pulpitis, through objective and subjective testing. This process is usually straightforward but can at times be difficult due to anatomical, physiological and psychological factors. The Purpose of this questionnaire based survey was to find out the ability of dentists in diagnosing irreversible pupitis. The study design was cross sectional. Two hundred signle clinical scenario based questionnaires were distributed among 3 dental colleges. Totally 142 questionnaires were received back. Respondents were the clinical staff [consultants, senior registrar residents, demonstrator, house officers and final year students] of the 3 dentil college. The respondents were asked to diagnose the clinical scenario as either reversible or irreversible pulpitis. Most of the participants [81.7%] gave a wrong diagnosis. Worst response was from the final year student category [88.6%] whereas best response was in the resident category [44.4%]. The deference was statistically significant [p<0.05]. The ability of participants in diagnosis the clinical scenario correctly was poor in all categories