A Review of the Second Mesiobuccal (MB2) Canal in Maxillary Molars Across Different Demographic Factors: Gender, Age, and Geographic Region

Abstract

Introduction: The root canal system has always been one of the most complicated aspects of dentistry, especially in endodontic. Lack of knowledge about the root canal system could lead to missing the additional root canal, which can later cause the endodontic treatment failure. The second mesiobuccal (MB2) canal which is the popular additional canal in maxillary molar is one of the most discussed topic. There will be different variations regarding the MB2 canal in various demographic factors. Thus, gender, age and geographical region factors should be considered to determine the anatomical variability and the frequency of the MB2 canal.

Objectives: To review the available evidences on the prevalence of MB2 canal among different demographic factors such as gender, age and geographical region.

Methods: Literature search was performed using PubMed, Scopus, Medline and Google Scholar databases to identify the related articles using systematic search strategy.

Results: From the available evidences among the selected articles, the prevalence of MB2 canal is 43.6%-73.0% in male and 23.2%-71% in female. The prevalence of MB2 canal is 27.3%-74.4% in younger age group and 10%-69.4% for the older age group. The prevalence of MB2 canal is 52.0%-57.8% in China and 45.6%-59.9% in Malaysia.      

Conclusion: According to the gender, the prevalence of MB2 canal is more frequent in male compare to female. In the age group aspect, the prevalence of MB2 canal is more frequent in the younger compare to older age group. The pattern also showed that the prevalence of MB2 canal varies randomly regardless of any geographical region.

Keywords: Literature review, second mesiobuccal (MB2) canal, gender, age, geographical region