What You Didn't Know About Molar Anatomy

WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT MOLAR ANATOMY

CBCT is slowly becoming the standard of care for endodontics for many reasons. In a tooth with a somewhat unusual root shape, such as the case demonstrated here, CBCT helps us determine the number of canals so that we can keep our accesses minimal and make informed decisions of where to look for accessory canals such as an MB2. This tooth had a conical root shape so a CBCT was taken to determine anatomy. As you can see below, this is a highly unusual anatomy where the DB root bifurcates to form four separate roots before one of the bifurcated DB canals then fuses with the MB canal. Without CBCT guidance, this accessory canal would not have even been looked for given that it splits in the middle 1/3rd of the root. A slice by slice demonstration is provided below. Cool tooth!