endodontic management of a maxillary premolar with a rare configuration (three buccolingually positioned canals in a single root) as confirmed by cone beam computed tomography: a case report

Missed canals pose a potential risk in the treatment of teeth with anatomical variations,even when multi-angled radiographs have been used. incomplete mechanical and chemicaldebridement of the root canal system can lead to treatment failure. therefore, cliniciansmust have adequate knowledge of normal root canal systems as well as any possible variationsin order to prevent any failure during or after the treatment of teeth with anatomicalvariations. any case report of such rare variations would add to this critically requiredbody of knowledge. the current case report presents the diagnosis and endodontic treatmentof a maxillary first premolar with one root and three canals (one palatal and twobuccal canals, all buccolingually positioned, bifurcating in the apical region), which wasdifferent from premolars with 3 canals reported up to now. this configuration describes anunusual root canal system for the maxillary first premolar and does not fit into any of thewell-known root canal classification systems.