Aberrant anatomy in endodontically treated teeth in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: The anatomical features of teeth show wide morphological variations. These variations include coronal and radicular aberrations. They are thought to be influenced by age, gender, race and evaluation methods. Therefore, an in-depth knowledge of both normal and unusual dental morphology is vital in the practice of endodontics.

Objective: To investigate the incidence of aberrant root anatomy in endodontically treated teeth among adult patients attending the Endodontic unit of a tertiary hospital in Southern Nigeria.

Methods: A retrospective review of all clinical records of adult patients who attended the Endodontic unit of the Department of Restorative Dentistry, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Edo State, Nigeria from January 2013 to January 2018 for root canal treatment (RCT). The demographic and clinical data were retrieved from the patients’ records and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20.

Results: A total of 927 patients, comprising445 (48.0%) males and 482 (52.0%) females (a ratio of 1:1.1) underwent endodontic treatment during the study period. The age range of patients was 18-80 years. The total number of teeth treated was 1016. Aberrant root anatomy was observed in 161 (15.8%) of the studied sample. It was more frequently seen in mandibular 118 (29.9%) than maxillary 43 (6.9%) teeth. Aberrant root anatomy occurred most frequently in mandibular second molars 42 (38.9%) followed by the maxillary first molars 32 (38.1%). These aberrations were observed in the roots and canal numbers of treated teeth while the occurrence of aberrant anatomy was higher in females (9.9%) than males (5.9%).

Conclusion: In this study, aberrant root anatomies were mostly observed in mandibular teeth and among female patients. Clinicians should be aware of the existence of wide variations in root form and canal morphology during endodontic procedures. The alertness is helped by the use of Dental operating microscopes or other magnification devices, multiple periapical radiographs with angular cone shift or other contemporary imaging modalities in revealing tooth anatomy that would otherwise be missed.

Keywords: Aberrant anatomy, endodontic treatment, Nigerian