Cone-beam CT evaluation of root canal morphology of maxillary and mandibular premolars in a Turkish Cypriot population

OBJECTIVES: Because of economic and political issues, Turkish Cypriots have been emigrating from Cyprus since the 1920s, especially to the United Kingdom, other European countries and Australia. Recently, according to the UK House of Commons, Home Affairs Committee, ~300,000 Cypriot Turks were living in the United Kingdom. However, this ethnic population residing in the United Kingdom has been insufficiently analysed. Although many Turkish Cypriots have been living abroad, little is known about the dental characteristics of this group. Premolar teeth, especially maxillary premolars, pose great challenges in endodontic treatment because of the number of roots and canals, and the variation in the configurations of the pulp cavity. Thus, it was considered valuable to determine the morphological characteristic of premolar teeth in a Turkish Cypriot population to aid clinicians in performing endodontic treatment in this ethnic population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample for this cross-sectional study consisted of a retrospective evaluation of cone-beam CT scans of 263 adult patients (age range 16–80 years). The number of roots and their morphology, the number of canals per root and the canal configuration were examined. The root canal configurations were also classified according to the scheme of Vertucci in the maxillary and mandibular premolar teeth. Pearson’s χ(2)-test was performed among canal configurations, sides and gender (P⩽0.05). RESULTS: In the present study, most root canal configurations were type IV (76.8%) and type I (49.4%) in the maxillary first and second premolars, respectively, whereas most root canal configurations were type I (93%) in both mandibular first and second premolars. In total, four (0.9%) teeth in the maxillary first premolars and two (0.4%) teeth in the maxillary second molar premolars had three roots. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first population-based study to focus solely on Turkish Cypriots’ root canal anatomy. Our findings will be valuable for dental professionals who treat many Turkish Cypriot patients, in the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries.