The potential of microcomputed tomography in studying the variant morphology of the dental canal-root system

Abstract

High-resolution microfocus computed tomography performed on a Skyscan 1176 (Broker) device was used to study morphological features of the canal-root systems of the upper jaw first molars in residents of the European part of Russia. An analysis of coronal, axial and sagittal sections of 134 upper jaw first permanent molars removed for medical reasons revealed variations in the canal-root system structure. In 85.8% of the cases, the first upper molars had three separate roots: two vestibular and one palatal; in 14.2% of the cases the roots make up different fusions. The palatal root bent in the buccal direction in 52.9% of the cases, while the mesiobuccal root bent in the distal direction in 87.9% of the cases. The greatest variety of curvatures was observed in the distal-buccal root: towards the menial side - in 28.3% of the cases, another 21.6% of cases being curved towards the distal side. The palatal root in 90.3% of the cases had one canal; 9.7% of the cases featured two canals, while the distal-buccal root in 73.9% of the cases had one canal, and two canals - in 26.1% of the cases. In 89.6% of the cases, the mesiobuccal root had two canals; in 10.4% of the cases - one canal. The mesiobuccal root of the first upper molars was of an oval shape, elongated in the vestibular-oral direction, the most common structures being those of Type IV (43,3%), II (25.4%), III (8.2%) and VI (7.4%) by F. J. Vertucci. The occurrence rate of extra types of root canal structure was 7.4%.