A comparative study of periodontal conditions around mesially tipped molars by a tipping degree / 대한치주과학회지

The aim of this study was to compare periodontal conditions around mesially tipped molars by a tipping degree. Patients who had been consecutively treated at the Department of Periodontology, Chonbuk National University Hospital from October 1999 to August 2001 were assessed with radiographs taken at their molar regions. Of all molars investigated, 142 molars of 116 patients tipped mesially more than 10 degrees to the line perpendicular to an occlusal plane were selected for the study. The tipped molars were divided into 2 groups with a reference to a tipping degree, i.e., 66 slightly tipped(group 1 : or =30degrees). Probing depth(PD), plaque retention index(PRI) at mesial surfaces of tipped molars and tooth mobility(TM) were recorded at the clinical examination. Tipping degree(TD) and alveolar bony defect(ABD) at the mesial surface of the molars were measured in a radiograph. The results showed that no statistical differences were found between groups in all measured variables. In Pearson correlation analysis performed in the same group, a positive relationship was shown between PRI and PD in the group 1 and, in the group 2, between PRI and PD as well as PRI and ABD(p < 0.01). However, no statistically significant relationship was found between TD and all other variables in both groups. Within limitations of this study, it may be concluded that tipping degree did not seem to influence periodontal conditions, i.e., PD, ABD and TM of mesially tipped molars per se, but plaque presence/absence seemed to mainly affect the periodontal conditions of the tipped molars.

Distribution, prevalence and sex linkage of molar root fusion / 대한치주과학회지

The objective of this study was to determine the incidence and distribution of root fusion as well as its sexlinkage in maxillary and mandibular molars. One hundred fifty patients who had eight maxillary and mandibular molars (third molars excluded) were consecutively selected for the study subjects. The subjects provided a total of 1200 molars, i.e., 600 maxillary and 600 mandibular molars. A decision about root fusion was made on the radiographic examination. If a molar had one root and/or roots fused at any part in the root surface, it was considered as having root fusion. The results showed that : (1) 14.1 % of the maxillary molars and 5.8 % of the mandibular molars had a fused root, (2) the prevalence of root fusion in the male was 33 % and 56.4 % in the female, (3) 60 % in the male and 48.8 % in the female had bilaterally paired root fusion, (4) the root fusion was most frequently observed in the maxillary second molar position, but none in the mandibular first position in this study. Within limitations of this study, it can be concluded that, in management of molars with a furcation problem, treatment options such as hemisection and root amputation should be chosen after careful evaluation of root fusion. Further studies are needed to investigate a possible relationship between root fusion and periodontal disease progression.