C-SHAPED CANAL CONFIGURATION OF MANDIBULAR 2ND PERMANENT MOLAR

Roots of the second mandibular molar often fuse so the purpose of this investigation was to examine the appearance of ''C''-shaped root cana ls and to classify different root canal types. A hundred and twelve ra ndomly chosen second lower permanent molars-after extraction due to pe riodontal disease-were prepared and then analysed. Contrast liquid (me thylene blue) was injected into prepared teeth. Each tooth teas cut in to slices to view the root canal morphology. Results of the analysis r evealed fusion, either total or partial in 14 cases (12.5%). As a conc lusion various appearances were classified into 5 types according to t he fused canal shapes and the frequency of different types varied from 0.89%-6.25%.