Objective: This in vitro study measured three key morphological features of pulp chambers in maxillary anterior teeth and tested the hypothesis that the distances from the access to the pulp chamber were similar for different tooth types. The features measured were: the distance between the midpoints of the cusp tip to the lingual CEJ and the buccal to the lingual CEJ (measurement ‘A'), the distance from the cusp tip to the lingual CEJ (measurement ‘B'), and the distance from the buccal to the lingual CEJ (measurement ‘C').
Methods: Three hundred maxillary anterior teeth (one hundred upper central incisors (UCI), one hundred upper lateral incisors (ULI), and one hundred upper canines (UC)) were radiographed mesiodistally on a 1 mm radiopaque grid using the Trophy RVG digital imaging system. The three measurements were determined with the Trophy software calibrated using the grid. The data for each group was subjected to Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA (P<0.001) and statistical groupings were determined by the Student-Newman-Keul's (SNK) test with a 0.05 significance level.
Results:
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‘A'
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‘B'
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‘C'
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Mean ± SD
(mm)
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SNK Group
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Mean ± SD
(mm)
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SNK Group
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Mean ± SD
(mm)
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SNK Group
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UCI
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5.4 ± 0.4
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x
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10.8 ± 0.8
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x
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6.9 ± 0.4
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y
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ULI
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5.0 ± 0.4
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y
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10.0 ± 0.7
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y
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6.3 ± 0.4
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z
|
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UC
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5.5 ± 0.5
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x
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10.2 ± 0.9
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y
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8.1 ± 0.6
|
x
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Conclusions: Although statistical testing showed that measurement ‘A' in ULI was statistically smaller than those of UCI and UC, the mean value of measurement ‘A' varied by only 0.5 mm (10%) between tooth types. Measurement ‘B' was statistically longer in UCI. Measurement ‘C' followed our expectations; UC was bulkier than UCI, which was bulkier than ULI.