ORIGINAL ARTICLE Root and canal morphology of maxillary first premolar teeth in a Ugandan population

Running title: Root and canal morphology of maxillary first premolar teeth Abstract Aim : To determine the variations in the root and canal morphology of the maxillary first premolar teeth in a Ugandan population. Methodology : Extracted maxillary first premolar teeth (n = 202) were evaluated in this study. The specimens had their pulp chambers de-roofed. They were decalcified in nitric acid and made transparent with methyl salicylate. Indian ink was injected into the root canals to display their configuration. Results : One hundred and forty eight (73.3%) of the specimens had two roots, of which 16.9% (n = 25) had fused roots. About 26.7% (n = 54) of the specimens were single rooted. Eleven (20.4%) of the single rooted specimens had one canal of either Vertucci type I, III, V or VII configuration while 79.6% (n = 43) of the specimens had two canals of either Vertucci type II, IV or VI configuration. The two-rooted specimens exhibited Vertucci type IV and VIII canal configuration: 96.6% and 3.4%, respectively. The single rooted teeth had a higher prevalence of lateral canals, canal intercommunications and multiple apical foramina as compared to the two-rooted specimens. Conclusion : The maxillary first premolar teeth in this Ugandan population showed a higher prevalence of two-root morphology with majority of the roots having Vertucci type IV canal configuration. There was no three-root anomaly recorded in the present material. Introduction Anatomical variations of teeth need to be considered in clinical and radiographic evaluations during endodontic treatment [1]. Clinical management involving maxillary first premolar teeth with unpredictable root and canal morphology may pose some challenges [2,3]. Some of the challenges include: the difficulty in extraction and orthodontic movement requiring excessive force, and frequent failures of endodontic treatment resulting from missed canals or because of difficulty to radiographically visualise the apical limit of the multi-rooted premolars. In previous studies [2-11], the prevalence of one root varied from 15.5% to 60%; two roots, 40% to 80.9%; and three roots, 0 to 9.2% (Table 1). The canal morphology of the maxillary first premolar teeth has been reported with varying prevalence rates: one canal, It is evident that the anatomy of these teeth tends to have racial variations [6,7,13]. Information on the root and canal morphology of maxillary first premolar teeth from populations of indigenous Africans is scarce. The purpose of this study was to assess the root and canal morphology of maxillary …