ROOT MORPHOLOGY AND C-SHAPED CANAL SYSTEM IN MANDIBULAR SECOND MOLARS ON CONE BEAM COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES

Background: the objective of this cone beam computed tomography study (cbct) is to evaluate the frequency of c-shaped canals in mandibular second molars (msms) in a turkish population with respect to gender, age and tooth position (unilateral (left versus right) and bilateral) in addition to root morphology. material and methods: a total of 243 patients (112 females and 131 males) who presented to the oral and maxillofacial radiology service at the ataturk university faculty of dentistry and required radiographic examination by cbct as part of their dental treatment were analyzed. results: the samples include 400 cbct images of msms; 86 subjects had unilateral molars and 157 subjects had bilateral molars. of 243 patients, 34 (14.0%) had c-shaped msms. this frequency did not differ with gender and age. c-shaped canal system were determined in 36 (9.0%) of the teeth. thirty-two cases (94.1%) were unilateral and 2 (5.9%) were bilateral. of the 32 unilateral cases, 15 (46.9%) were on the left and 17 (53.1%) were on the right side. single roots were present in 47.3% (30.6% several canals and 16.7% one canal) of msms with c-shaped canal. in contrast, this rate was only 1.6% in msms without c-shaped canal. conclusion: c-shaped msms occurred relatively low frequency in this turkish population. cbct is an effective tool for the detection of c-shaped roots/canals, and it is a valuable aid for dentists providing root canal treatment.