Furcation quiz workbook

This is the terminology used to describe the anatomical region in multirooted teeth where individual roots divides from the root trunk and diverge away from the other roots. This is also knows as bifurcation where the tooth has 2 roots and trifurcation where the tooth has 3 roots in maxillary molars. Furcation involvement is where there has been destruction of the periodontal tissues in the furcation area due to biofilm colonisation and host tissue response- this indicates advanced inflammatory periodontal diseases initiated by the mature plaque bacteria. This usually leads to destruction of the bone and attachment loss in the furcation

Naber’s probe due to its curved design which enables it to wrap around the roots to reach and tuck into the furcation.

1. Access: posterior teeth difficult to access due to medial/distal areas of furcation involvement 2. Inflammation/bleeding which may impact visualisation 3. Maxillary molars not always visible on x-rays to give as a clue 4. May not have access to nabers probe

<ol> <li>Difficult access to clean as patient may not be aware as often furcations occur ‘silently’, there is no advancement of the bone loss, difficult to access depending on the grade or furcations and amount of bone loss, very few oral hygiene aids will work depending on grade of furcation. The roots have grooves and therefore there will be niches where cleaning aids will not reach. Risks include a quick advancement of periodontal destruction in that area and surround area. Also a great risk of root caries</li> </ol> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Access, root divergence. It is difficult to access most furcations, if the roots are closer together it can be almost impossible to reach into the depth of the furcation. Need to use specialised instruments- usually fine tipped power driven scalers and site specific scalers may not always have access to these in practice</p> Signup and view all the answers