Variations in root canal morphology of the permanent mandibular first molar in Indian population- A CBCT study

The purpose of this study was to determine the variations in the number of canals and its morphology in permanent mandibular first molars using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in a subset of Indian population. A total of 350 CBCT scans were collected and evaluated in all three orthogonal planes to determine the number of root canals and study their anatomic variations using Vertucci’s classification.: The total number of roots and root canals, the root canal configuration, the incidence, and the correlations between left- and right-side occurrences and between males and females were analysed. Statistically significant differences were evaluated using the chi-square test with SPSS 16.0 for Windows (SPSS, Chicago, IL), with significance set at p < 0.05.: The results of this study showed that predominantly, two thirds of the subjects had type VI mesial canal configuration and two-thirds had type I distal canal configuration. Also there was significant variance in the canal anatomy across gender and age of the subjects.: CBCT is a clinically useful tool in understanding the variations in root canal morphology, which guides in the assessment of the canal morphology aiding in successful root canal treatment.