Apical periodontitis in mesiobuccal roots of maxillary molars: influence of anatomy and quality of root canal treatment, a CBCT study

Samantha Jannone Carrion; Marcelo Santos Coelho; Adriana de Jesus Soares; Marcos Frozoni

doi:10.5395/rde.2022.47.e37

Apical periodontitis in mesiobuccal roots of maxillary molars: influence of anatomy and quality of root canal treatment, a CBCT study

Restor Dent Endod. 2022 Sep 19;47(4):e37. doi: 10.5395/rde.2022.47.e37. eCollection 2022 Nov.

Authors

Samantha Jannone Carrion¹, Marcelo Santos Coelho¹, Adriana de Jesus Soares¹, Marcos Frozoni¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Endodontic, São Leopoldo Mandic School of Dentistry, Campinas, SP, Brazil.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of apical periodontitis (AP) in the mesiobuccal roots of root canal-treated maxillary molars.

Materials and methods: One thousand cone-beam computed tomography images of the teeth were examined by 2 dental specialists in oral radiology and endodontics. The internal anatomy of the roots, Vertucci's classification, quality of root canal treatment, and presence of missed canals were evaluated; additionally, the correlation between these variables and AP was ascertained.

Results: A total of 1,000 roots (692 first molars and 308 second molars) encompassing 1,549 canals were assessed, and the quality of the root canal filling in the majority (56.9%) of the canals was satisfactory. AP was observed in 54.4% of the teeth. A mesiolingual canal in the mesiobuccal root (MB2 canal) was observed in 54.9% of the images, and the majority (83.5%) of these canals were not filled. Significant associations were observed between the presence of an MB2 canal and the quality of the root canal filling and the presence of AP.

Conclusions: AP was detected in more than half of the images. The MB2 canals were frequently missed or poorly filled.

Keywords: Apical periodontitis; Cone-beam computed tomography; Mesiolingual canal; Root canal anatomy.