Root morphology of the maxillary first premolar in Singaporeans

Abstract

Extracted teeth were collected from clinical procedures performed in the Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore. A selected sample of 957 maxillary first premolars were subjected to visual examination and digital radiography. There was a higher incidence of two-root form (50.6 per cent) than previously reported for the Singaporean dentition. In the two-root category, 307 teeth exhibited the fused-root form (two fused roots with two root canals) and 177 were distinctively of the two-root form (two separate roots with two root canals and two foramina). The fused-root form was emphasized as an entity in this study. The one-root form accounted for 49.4 per cent. No three-root form was detected.