International Journal of Stomatological Research 2013, 2(1): 1-4
DOI: 10.5923/j.ijsr.20130201.01
Mandibular Canine with Two Root Canals – An Unusual
Case Report
Vipin Arora
*
, Vineeta Nikhil, Jatin Gupta
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Subharti Dental College & Hospital, M eerut,250005, India
Abstract Mandibular canines present a complex internal anatomy. There are reported cases of canines with a single root
and two canals, three canals, two roots or fused roots. The existence of mandibular canines with more than one root canal is
a documented fact that clinicians should keep in mind, in order to avoid failure during endodontic treatment. In spite of the
low incidence of lower canines with one root and two canals, this possibility should not be ignored, inasmuch as the
presence of a second canal in these teeth leads to difficulties in endodontic treatment. The precise knowledge of the internal
dental anatomy is essential for the success of the root canal therapy, because the failure to detect the extra canals and the
incomplete radicular obturation leads to the infection of the periapical space, which ultimately results in the loss of the
tooth. The long-term success of the restorative treatment depends directly on the quality of the endodontic treatment
realized on the abutment teeth. The mandibular canine is very important as abutment for any type of restoration. This
article presents a case of a patient with mandibular canine having two root canals ,which lead us to conclude that such
anatomical variations also occur in india as much as described in the international literature and cannot be overlooked when
treating the teeth.
Keywords Mandibular, Canine, Two Root Canals
1. Introduction
The anatomy of the root canal system determines the
parameters under which the endodontic treatment is
performed and directly affects the success of the root canal
treatment. The majority of the problems that occur during
the root canal treatment are due to the insufficient
knowledge of the anatomy of the pulp space[1]. The main
documented reason for failure of the endodontic treatment
is the inability to obturate one of the root canal because of
ignoring the variations of the internal and external dental
anatomy of the tooth. In order to perform a quality
endodontic treatment, which will ensure the tooth’s long
term durability, it is imperative that the dentist takes into
account the morphology of the radicular canals and the
variations of the entire canalicular system before initiating
the endodontic treatment.
From a morphological standpoint, mandibular canine is
usually a monoradicular tooth. The internal anatomy of the
radicular canals doesnot always correlate with the outer
shape of the tooth. The mandibular canines do not always
display the basic anatomy that we expect with one root and
one canal. The proof is given by the various studies in
* Corresponding author:
vipinendodontist@gmail.com (Vipin Arora)
Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/ijsr
Copyright © 2013 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved
which research was done on both the morphology of the
monoradicular canines and the presence of those, which can
display two radicular canals. It is important that this fact be
taken into account in order to prevent the failure of the
endodontic treatment and the subsequent loss of the tooth.
Generally, mandibular canines contain a single root and
root canal[2-5]. The occurrence of two canals and even
more two roots is rare, ranging fro m 1%[4] to
5%[5].Although the prevalence is low, but the clinicians
should consider all the possible variations in the number of
roots and pulp canals of mandibular canines. This paper
reports a case of a patient with mandibular canine having
two root canals
2. Case Report
A healthy, 40 year old female was referred to the
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics
with a chief complaint of pain in lower left region. The pain
lingered for several minutes even after removal of the
stimulus and led to a disturbed sleep. Clinical examination
revealed large carious lesions, associated with mandibular
left canine and mandibular left premolar. Electric pulp test
was done for both the teeth. Mandibular left canine gave an
exaggerated response to the electric pulp test. It was tendor
on percussion as well while mandibular left first premolar
was not tendor.
Initial periapical radiographic examination (Figure 1)