Assessment of the Root Canal Morphology of Maxillary and Mandibular Premolars in a Selected Lebanese Population: A Cone-beam Computed Tomographic Study

Description :

This research is based on the evaluation of premolars’ anatomy in a selected Lebanese population. The main purpose is to classify and understand the complexity of premolars’ root canal anatomy in order to reduce the iatrogenic errors and fully succeed the treatment. A thorough knowledge of the root anatomy and canal morphology is then crucial for successful root canal therapy. CBCT images allow a 3D view of the anatomic structures with a high geometric precision and seem to be suited for assessment of root canal morphology (14-17). The main advantage of CBCT is its appropriacy for clinical use. However, CBCT’s in vivo studies show some limits because extra artifacts may reduce image quality (16). It’s in this context that it would be interesting to evaluate, from a radiological point of view, the number of roots and canal configuration of all maxillary and mandibular premolars, in order to understand better the complexity of these specific type of teeth. This study will also investigate the root canal morphology of maxillary and mandibular premolars using CBCT imaging and its relation with the quality of the endodontic treatment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, comparable data of Lebanese patients have not been studied yet. The present research will include CBCT scans of almost 200-250 patients, requested for reasons not related with this study. This will allow a comparison regarding the number of root canals, the configuration of the canals and their relation with the sex distribution. In addition, this study evaluates the symmetry of root and canal anatomies between maxillary contralateral premolars and mandibular contralateral premolars. And finally it will assess endodontic errors of the different morphologies. The obtained results concerning the number of roots and root canal morphology in the selected Lebanese population will be comparable with other studies (1-5-6-17).