The influence of the surgical operating microscope in locating the mesiolingual canal orifice: a laboratory analysis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of using the surgical operating microscope (SOM) for detection of the mesiolingual (ML) canal orifice in extracted first maxillary permanent molars. One hundred and eight human first maxillary permanent molars were randomly selected and mounted onto a dental chair mannequin. Conventional access cavity was prepared and an attempt was made to locate the mesiolingual canal orifice using only a sharp explorer, a mirror and a #10 K-file. A mesiolingual canal orifice was either located or not located. If not located, the teeth were then evaluated by using a surgical operating microscope (SOM). The mesiobuccal roots of all teeth where the ML canal orifice had not been located were sectioned in an axial plane and the sections were explored with an adjunctive use of the SOM at a 25 X magnification. ML canal orifices were detected in 58 teeth using only a sharp explorer, a mirror and #10 K-file. In the remaining 50 teeth, 37 ML canal orifices were located by using the SOM and 3 ML canal orifices were located after root sectioning. In 10 teeth, the ML canal orifices were not found. The results of this study showed a high incidence of a ML canal in the mesiobuccal roots of the first maxillary molars (90.7%) and demonstrated that the adjunctive use of the SOM increased the ability of the dental clinician to locate the ML canal orifice.