Prevalence of cervical enamel projection and its correlation with furcation involvement in eskimos dry skulls

The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of cervical enamel projection (CEP) in molars of Eskimo dry skulls and to study the correlation of CEP with furcation involvement (FI). The material consisted of 834 upper and lower first and second permanent molars from 133 Eskimo dry skulls. CEPs were investigated from the buccal aspect of the tooth and classified according to a system modified from Masters & Hoskins (12). FI was measured horizontally from the buccal aspect into the furcation with a graduated probe to the nearest mm. Any measurement > or = 2 mm was considered to have positive FI. The result showed a presence of 72% of CEPs among the examined molars. Grade III was found in 53%, Grade II in 9% and Grade I in 11% of the 834 molars. Lower molars had a higher prevalence of CEPs (78%) than upper molars (67%). With the individual skull used as the unit for analysis, a statistically significant correlation of CEP with FI was found in upper right 2nd molar, upper left 1st molar, lower left 1st and 2nd molars and lower right 1st molar. These results may be of clinical importance since the impact of CEPs to periodontal treatment of FIs has been discussed.