Palatine Tonsilloliths: A Retrospective Study on 500 Digital Panoramic Radiographs

This study aimed to investigate palatine tonsilloliths in the Lebanese population via digital panoramic radiographs. Digital panoramic radiographs of a sample of 500 Lebanese adult patients (281 females and 219 males) with an average age of 47.9 years were included in this study and assessed for tonsilloliths. The IBM® SPSS® (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) version 20.0 for Windows was used to carry out statistical analysis of the data collected. Tonsilloliths were found in 7.2% of cases (36 out of 500; belonging to 18 females and 18 males). Among these, 13 cases were on the right side, 12 on the left side and 11 were bilateral. Affected patients' age ranged from 24 to 84 years (mean of 61 years). There was no statically significant relation between tonsilloliths presence and gender, while a low positive correlation was observed between tonsilloliths and age (r = 0.193). Palatine tonsilloliths may be discovered fortuitously on panoramic radiographs utilized regularly in dental offices; their incidence increases with age. Panoramic radiographs may have a beneficial role in detecting palatine tonsilloliths sometimes connected to unpleasant symptoms such as non-specific chronic halitosis.