Background: Tooth surface loss (TSL) is a progressive process arising from erosion, abrasion, attrition or abfraction. It can affect individuals of any age group: children, young adult, adults or the elderly and can compromise the health of individual tooth or the entire dentition leading to poor quality of life of the affected person. Objective: To evaluate the pattern of TSL among dental patients in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital and to assess the impact of TSL on their quality of life. Subjects and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study among patients with TSL in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital. The Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) questionnaire was used to obtain information on the impact of TSL on the quality of life of the participants. Data collected were analysed using IBM SPSS version 20. Chi-square test was used to assess association between types of TSL and quality of life of the patients. Level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: One hundred and twenty-five patients (Males = 72; Females = 53) with tooth wear lesions participated in the study. The most common type of tooth surface loss was attrition (40%) followed by abrasion (23.2%). The highest impact of TSL on the quality of life was painful sensation strongly affecting 39 (31.2%) patients. This was followed by problem with chewing. There was no statistically significant relationship between patients' quality of life and types of tooth surface loss. Conclusion: The most common negative impact of TSL on patient quality of life was painful sensation.

Aim The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of additional canals in maxillary first molars in a selected population in Nigeria. Methods and Materials One hundred extracted teeth were collected from the Pedodontic and Oral Surgery clinics of the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria. The teeth were identified and their root planed to remove adherent soft tissues. Each tooth was sectioned at the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) and then again at 2 mm below the CEJ. The number of canals present in each root was noted. For the clinical aspect of the study, 30 patients with clinical and radiological evidence of pulpal involvement participated in the study. These patients had root canal therapy performed on their maxillary first molars and the number of canals was confirmed with periapical radiographs. Results In the laboratory phase of the study 77% of the teeth sectioned had three canals while 22% had four canals with the fourth canal being a second mesiobuccal canal. Only one tooth had five canals with two canals in the palatal root, two canals in the mesiobuccal root, and the remaining canal in the distobuccal root. For the clinical phase of the study, 29 (96.7%) out of 30 patients treated had three canals while only one (3.3%) had four canals with the fourth canal being a second mesiobuccal canal. Conclusion Clinicians should assume there are additional canals in each root when performing endodontic therapy on the maxillary first molar. Only after a thorough search for extra canals and after it is determined further preparation would be fruitless or could cause perforation should the clinician proceed with treating only one canal per root. Clinical Significance If root canal therapy fails, it may be due to the existence of an extra canal that was not located and treated in the first place. This should be considered carefully during re-treatment either by surgical or non-surgical methods. Citation Abiodun-Solanke IMF, Dosumu OO, Shaba PO, Ajayi DM. Prevalence of Additional Canals in Maxillary First Molars in a Nigerian Population. J Contemp Dent Pract 2008 November; (9)7:081-088.