The occurrence and intensity of taurodontism among patients in the hospital of the infant Jesus. Biometric analysis of panoramic radiographs

Abstract

Background. Taurodontism is an anomaly recognized in multi-rooted teeth. It is characterized by the vertical enlargement of the pulp chamber, apical displacement of the pulp floor and the bifurcation of the roots. Objectives. The aim of this study was to asses the occurrence of taurodontism among patients from the Department of Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology of the Hospital of the Infant Jesus. Material and Methods. From 1387 panoramic radiographs, performed in years 2012–2013, 339 radiographs with full permanent dentition were qualified. Radiographs without full dentition and with molar teeth after endodontic, prosthodontics, orthodontic treatment were excluded from the study. First and second molars of maxilla and mandibular were reviewed. In total 2712 teeth were assessed. Two methods were applied: Shifman and Chanannel’s index and Seow and Lai’s index. Only teeth diagnosed in both methods were considered as taurodontic. Results. Taurodontism was identified in 2.06% of patients and in 0.88% of examined teeth. According to the Shifman and Chanannel’s method, 9 patients (2.66%) and 35 teeth (1.30%) were observed. Twelve patients (0.44%) and 36 teeth (1.33%) were assessed using Seow and Lai’s method. It was more common in maxilla. Second maxillary molars had the highest prevalence of taurodontism and first mandibular molars the lowest. No taurodontic features were observed in first mandibular molars. Based on both methods, 21 teeth (0.75%) were assessed as hypo- and 3 as mesotaurodonic (0.11%). No hipertaurodont teeth were found. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was 0.627 (p < 0.001), which shows good agreement of both methods. Conclusions. Taurodontism is a rare anomaly. However, it has to be taken into consideration in patients undergoing endodontic treatment or surgical extractions.