[Furcation lesions in deciduous teeth]

The area of furcation of temporary molars constitutes a zone of exchanges and rearrangements relating to the evolution of the sub-adjacent permanent tooth. It is subjected to the eruption of the latter and to the physiological modifications of the temporary tooth. Moreover, this area is the site of above-mentioned inflammatory or infections conditions, maintained or aggravated by anatomical factors (accessory canals, thin pulpar floor, with little calcified dentine and broad tubuli), physiological factors (multiplication of accessory canals, decrease in the floor and migration of the epithelial attachment), endodontic factors (pulpal involvement and its complications) and periodontal factors (septum syndrome). The pathology of furcation is an evolving lesion. When discovered early it can be treated by endodontic therapy, while, in a later phase, it will require the extraction of the tooth. The assessment is made on the basis of a X-Ray examination which permits the temporary tooth to be situated in its stable or labile phase, the condition of the pulpal floor to be evaluated and the stage of sub-adjacent germ mineralisation to be estimated. A periodontal arrangement, by coronal reconstitution, conditions the reliability of the endodontic therapies.