Preoperative predictors of number of root canals clinically detected in maxillary molars: a PennEndo Database study

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the concomitant influence of several variables on the number of root canals clinically detected in maxillary molars. The study used multiple logistic regression analysis on data from 1328 patients, aged 6-82 years, who received nonsurgical root canal treatment on maxillary molars at the University of Pennsylvania from 2000-2006. The number of canals was used as the dependent variable, whereas tooth type, age, caries, referral source, restoration, and pulpal and periapical diagnosis were used as independent variables. One was 0.98 times less likely to detect more canals when the age increased by 1 year. Similarly, one was 1.4 times more likely to detect canals in teeth with caries than teeth without caries. When these independent variables were controlled, only age of the individual was significantly related to number of root canals detected.