ABSTRACT
Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the mesiobuccal (MB) root canal(s) anatomy
of the maxillary first and second molar teeth in an Iranian population. Materials and Methods: Cone beam computed tomography images of 280 teeth (145 maxillary first molars and
135 maxillary second molars) were analyzed to determine the number and types of the
MB root canals. Chi-square test was used to examine the relationship between the number
of MB canals and sex and Mann–Whitney analysis was used to define the relationship
between the number of canals and the buccopalatal dimension of the MB roots. The level
of interobservers' agreement was assessed with Kappa test. Results: Nearly 44.8% of the first molar and 18.5% of the second molar teeth had an additional
MB canal (MB2). Types I and III of root canals had the highest frequencies. There
was no significant relationship between the number of MB root canals of maxillary
first and second molars and sex (P = 0.829). The relationship between the buccopalatal dimension of the MB roots and
the number of root canals was shown to be statistically significant (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Presence of MB2 had a relatively high frequency, especially in the maxillary first
molars. The mean buccopalatal dimension of the MB roots showed to be interrelated
with the number of root canals.
Key words:
Cone beam computed tomography - maxilla - root canal anatomy