THE EFFECT OF FISSURE MORPHOLOGY ON CARIES SEVERITY OF ADULTS IN NORTH IRAQ

Abstract

Background: The presence of pits and fissures are normal occurrence found in molars, premolars. They can be considered as areas with high susceptibility to caries lesion.Materials and Methods: The extracted premolars were 655 for orthodontic purposes. Ekstrand clinical severity index (1995) was used to assess the severity of primary fissure occlusal caries. They were divided into 5 subgroups on the basis of fissure morphology (I, V, U, IK and Y types)(Nagano,1961). Thereafter, the teeth were sectioned into buccolingual direction in central fossa and microscopically analyzed by stereomicroscope (150× magnification).Aim of study: The study was designed to examine the effect of fissure morphology on primary caries of occlusal fissures in premolars in North of Iraq. Results : V– and IK– shaped fissures were found to have the maximum percentage (48% and 22.44%, respectively). Percentage was very poor for I (18.77%), Y (18.01%) and U (17.09%) types of fissureConclusions: V– and U– shapes have less severity of dental caries in comparison with I–, Y– and IK– types with increasing severity index scores.