Prevalence of Radix Entomolaris in Mandibular First Molars of North Indian Population of Sunder Nagar, Himachal Pradesh

Aim: The present study aimed to find the prevalence of Radix Entomolaris (RE) in North Indian population of Himachal Pradesh using periapical radiographs.

Methodology: The study was conducted at the Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics; Himachal Dental College, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh. A total of 260 patients who visited the department for root canal treatment of mandibular first molars over the period of 2 years (May 2016-May 2018) were selected as the study sample. The patients had the bilateral presence of mandibular first molars. Out of these patients, 146 were females and 114 were of males. Hence, a total of 520 IOPAs of these patients were studied for the presence of additional root in mandibular first molars. The age of all the patients was between 18-65 (mean =36) years.

Results: Among all the studied radiographs; periapical radiographs of 24 patients showed an additional root. The prevalence of patients with three-rooted mandibular first molar was 9.23%; 9.59% for females and 8.77% for males. Out of 24 patients with RE; three patients had bilateral RE presentation (1.15%). There were 13 cases with left RE (5%) and 5 cases had right RE (3.08%).

Conclusion: The possibility of encountering RE in the Himachali population was noted in the present study. It should be detected properly and managed adequately.