Proposal for a simple and effective diagrammatic representation of root canal configuration for better communication amongst oral radiologists and clinicians

Abstract

Objectives: Root canal anatomy has been proved to be a complex canal configuration system. The negotiation and cleaning of this system is essential for successful root canal treatment. The present root canal classification systems are unable to transfer the clinically relevant information about the canal system from the oral radiologist to the treating clinician. Thus, a simple and effective diagrammatic representation of the canal system, depicting the major canals, important changes during their course along with other relevant information has been presented. Methods: The proposed representation consists of five horizontal lines dividing the tooth into four segments from the point of reference to apical foramen. Each line has been designated with different line style. The diagrammatic images, one anterior and one posterior multi-rooted tooth, are given for easy understanding of the orientation of image. The whole image can be saved in portable network graphics format and can be imported to any word processing document. The image can be printed in the reporting sheet. Result: Applying the same proposal, some of the diagrammatic representations have been showed. Conclusion: This proposal for diagrammatic representation of root canal configuration can be helpful in getting an approximate distribution of the canals in a relatively simple manner. This scheme also provides valuable clinical information about the root canal system, which the other classifications fail to represent.

Keywords

• Classification
• Communication
• Root canal
• Cone-Beam Computed Tomography
• Three-dimensional imaging