Morphology of Teeth and

Their Root Canal Systems

 INTRODUCTION
• Successful root canal therapy requires a thorough
knowledge of tooth anatomy and root canal morphology
• Root canal morphology of teeth is often extremely
complex and highly variable.
• A number of factors contribute to the variation found:
 Age
 Gender
 Ethnic background

• As the external morphology of the tooth varies from

person to person, the internal morphology of the crown
and root also varies.
 Mandibular central incisor
External root Pulp chamber Root canal Clinical
morphology considerations
•Single –rooted •Similar to •Single canal from •Common to miss
•External form maxillary central orifice to apex or a presence of two
of the root is incisor being single canal by canals on
broad Wider bifurcate into two preoperative
labiolingually labiolingually canals or sometimes radiograph if they
and narrow pointed incisally two separate canals are superimposed
mesiodistally. with three pulp are also found. • Since apex of
•Longitudinal horns mandibular central
depression on • Cross-section - incisor is inclined
mesial and ovoid shape. lingually,
distal surface of the surgical
root access may
•Hour-glass become difficult to
•Overall lenth - achieve.
21.5mm
 Mandibular lateral incisor
External root Pulp chamber
morphology
•Single rooted • Similar to that of
•Overall length - mandibular central
23.5mm incisor except that
it has larger
dimensions.
•Usually the roots
are straight or
curved distally or
labially,
but distal curve is
sharper than those
of mandibular
central
incisors.
 Mandibular canine
External root Pulp chamber Root canal Clinical
morphology considerations
•Overall •Labiolingually •One root and one •In older patients,
average length - pulp chamber canal but where there is
27mm tapers to a point can occasionally deposition of
in the incisal third have two (14% secondary
of the crown cases) dentine,
• Pulp chamber it is necessary to
appears to incorporate the
narrower incisal edge into
mesiodistally the access
• Cervical cavity for straight
constriction is also line access.
present.
 Mandibular first premolar
External root Pulp chamber Root canal Clinical
morphology considerations
•Single rooted •Mesiodistally, •Mandibular first • Surgical access
tooth pulp chamber is premolars usually to the apex of the
•May be 2 narrow in have one root and mandibular first
rooted also dimension one canal. premolar
•Overall length - •Two pulp horns, •Sometimes second is often
22.5mm the buccal horn canal complicated by the
being most proximity of the
prominent mental nerve
 Mandibular Second premolar
External root Pulp Root canal
morphology chamber
•Overall •Lingual •Usually has one root
average pulp and one canal and in
length - horn is 11 percent of
22.5mm more the teeth, has a
promine second canal
nt • Buccolingually, it is
wider than that of
mandibular first
premolar
 Mandibular first molar
External root morphology Pulp chamber
•2 rooted tooth •Quadrilateral in cross-section at the level
•Overall length -21.5mm of the pulp floor and is wider mesially than
distally
• The roof of the pulp chamber is
rectangular in shape with
straight mesial wall and rounded distal wall
• Four or five pulp horns
• Mesiobuccal orifice is present under the
mesiobuccal cusp
• The mesiolingual orifice is located in a
depression formed by mesial and the
lingual walls.
• Distal orifice is the widest of all three
canals. It is oval in shape with greater
diameter in buccolingual direction.
Root canal
•Two roots with 3 canals
• Mesial root has two canals, viz.
mesiobuccal and mesiolingual
• Distal root generally has one
canal ;But two canals are also seen
in some cases
Clinical considerations
•Over-enlargement of mesial canals
should be avoided to prevent
procedural errors
• To avoid superimposition of the mesial
canals, radiograph should be taken at
an angle.
 Mandibular second molar
External root Pulp chamber Root canal Clinical
morphology considerations
•Two roots •Smaller in size •Usually 2 roots with •C-shaped canals
•Overall length •Canal orifices 3 canals make the
20mm are smaller and •Variations seen endodontic
closer together. •C shaped canals procedures
also seen difficult
so care should be
taken while
treating them
 Mandibular third molar
External root Pulp chamber Root canal Clinical
morphology considerations
•Average tooth •Similar to 2nd and •Two roots and two •Root apex in
length 18.5mm 3rd moar canals close proximity to
mandibular canal
 References
 Ingle’s endodontics6- Ingle,Bakland,Baumgartner
 Grossman’s endodontic practice-1,3th edition
 Textbook of endodontics-2nd edition Nisha Garg,Amit
Garg