Contemporarily, most clinicians use the cold test on teeth suspected to have pulpitis. The origins of this diagnostic technique are vague, as is the pathophysiological interpretation of the patient's responses. Correlations are varied relative to the status of the pulp tissue. There are numerous questions regarding this diagnostic approach, many of which remain unanswered. Was this diagnostic test chosen based on the patient's signs and symptoms? Did it offer a direct and accurate picture of the status of the dental pulp? Could it take into account the presence of large amounts of reparative dentine that may have formed in the tooth in question? Was it accurate in the presence of the tooth that displayed a periapical lesion ... or was it even necessary in these cases? This paper addresses both the history of the use of cold in dentistry and some of the proposed origins and constraints of this technique for pulpal diagnosis, along with clinical and scientific perspectives. Keywords: cold test, dental pulp, diagnostic testing, pulpitis, vitality