title: Furcation canals of the maxillary fourth premolar and the mandibular first molar teeth in cats.
abstract: The furcation region morphology was evaluated in 103 mature feline carnassial teeth (54 maxillary fourth premolar and 49 mandibular first molar teeth). Patent furcation canals were present in 27.2% of teeth. No significant difference (p = 0.88) in distribution of this anatomical variation was found between maxillary fourth premolar and mandibular first molar teeth. The mean width of these furcation canals was 104.0 microns with two-thirds of the canals having a buccal orientation. The presence of furcation canals could be a factor in the etiopathogenesis of feline dental resorptive lesions, as well as a characteristic to be considered in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of endodontic or periodontic-endodontic lesions in cat teeth.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Buenos Aires Chorroarín 280-(C1427CW0) Buenos Aires, Argentina. vinegro@fvet.uba.ar
authors.forename: Viviana B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Negro
authors.forename: Sabás Z
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: Beatriz M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Maresca
authors.forename: Cesar E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Lorenzo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001641:Bicuspid / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002415:Cats / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008963:Molar / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000033:anatomy & histology*