canal configuration of mesiobuccal roots in permanent maxillary first molars in iranian population: a systematic review

objectives: it is essential for clinicians to have adequate knowledge about root canal configurations; although its morphology varies largely in different ethnicities and even in different individuals with the same ethnic background. the current study aims to review the root canal configurations of mesiobuccal roots of maxillary first molars in an iranian population based on different epidemiological studies. materials and methods: a comprehensive search was conducted to retrieve articles related to root canal configuration and prevalence of each type of root canal based on vertucci’s classification for the mesiobuccal root of maxillary first molars. an electronic search was conducted in medline, scopus and google scholar from january 1984 to september 2015. the articles were evaluated and methods, population, number of teeth and percentage of each root canal type evaluated in each study were summarized in the data table. websites such as www.iranmedex.com, www.magiran.com and www.sid.ir were used to search all related studies published in persian.    results: totally, out of nine studies conducted on the iranian populations in nine provinces of iran and 798 teeth, the vertucci's type i was the most common type (35.70%), followed by type ii (30.37%), type iv (16.66%), type iii (7.93%) and type v (2.61%). conclusions: from this review article, it is concluded that the root canal morphology of mesiobuccal roots of maxillary first molars in the iranian population predominantly has more than one canal. therefore, careful evaluation of radiographs and anatomy of the pulp chamber is essential in order to achieve a successful root canal therapy.