Prevalence and Morphological Characteristics of Taurodontism in Permanent First and Second Molars in a Peruvian CBCT...

Introduction/Objective: Taurodontism is an anatomical variation characterized by an increase in the pulp chamber, apical displacement of the chamber floor, and a relative reduction in root length. The objective was to determine the prevalence and morphological characteristics of taurodontism in permanent first and second molars within a Peruvian sample evaluated using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: An observational, cross-sectional, and retrospective study was conducted based on 382 CBCT scans of patients aged 18 to 59 years, acquired between 2022 and 2024. The prevalence was estimated at the patient/CBCT level, defined as the presence of at least one taurodontic permanent first or second molar, and at the tooth level, considering the present and evaluable molars. The association with sex and age group was evaluated using chi-square, odds ratios, and logistic regression adjusted for sex, age, and the number of evaluable molars. Results: Taurodontism was identified in 266/382 CBCT scans, with a patient/CBCT prevalence of 69.6%. In the adjusted model, an association was observed with the female sex (aOR = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.10-2.73; p = 0.018) and the 18-29 age group (aOR = 2.34; 95% CI: 1.45-3.77; p < 0.001). At the tooth level, 692/2472 evaluable molars were taurodontic (28.0%). Among the taurodontic molars, 502/692 were located in the maxilla (72.5%) and 190/692 in the mandible (27.5%). Hypotaurodontism was the predominant subtype (594/692; 85.8%). Conclusions: Molar taurodontism was frequent at the patient/CBCT level in this selected sample; however, its prevalence at the tooth level was lower. The associations with sex and age should be interpreted with caution.