Anatomy of Permanent‎ ‎Mandibular‎ First‎ Molars in a Selected Iranian Population Using ‎Cone-beam Computed Tomography

Knowledge of radicular anatomy has a crucial impact on endodontic practices. Since some anatomic features such as modifications of Vertucci are not evaluated adequately, this study was conducted.
Methods and Materials: In this in vivo study, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images ofý 312ý intact bilateral firstý molarsý fromý 156ý patientsý (ý79ý ýmalesý andý 77ý females with an average age of ý35.58ý±ý11.17ý yearsý)ý wereý investigated by a trained dentist in terms of numberý ofý roots,ý numberý ofý canalsý iný eachý rootý andý iný ýeachý tooth,ý and shapesý ofý canalsý accordingý toý Vertucci’sý classificationý andý itsý modifications.ý Groups were compared using the Chi-square test. The level of significance was set at 0.05.
Of all teeth, 5.2%ý hadý 3ý roots.ýý ýMesialý rootsý hadý mostlyý 2ý canalsý while distal roots had a similar frequency of 1 and 2 canals.ý ýOfý allý teeth,ý ýý39.7%ý hadý 3ý canals,ý 45.2%ý hadý 4ý canals,ý 13.8%ý hadý 5ý canals,ý andý 1.3%ý hadý 6ý canals.ý There were no significant differences between males and females, ýin terms of number of roots (P=0.137), number of canals in mesial (P=0.453) or distal roots (Pýý=0.328), and total number of canals (P=0.138).ý The most frequent Vertucci classes in mesial and distal roots were IV ýýfollowedý byý II and Iý, respectively. There were no significant differences between males and females in terms of Vertucci classes of mesial (P=0.211) or distal (P=0.205) roots.
In this population, there were 3 to 6 canals per tooth (mostly 4 and 3 canals).ý Males and female’s ýmight be similar regarding the number of roots, or number of canals in each root, number of ýcanals in each tooth, or the predominant canal shape in each root.