Abstract:

Objective: Cemental tear is a clinical term referring to partial or complete separation of the cementum from the root surface. Unnecessary treatment can be applied due to its low prevalence and difficulty in diagnosis. This study aimed to determine the frequency and distribution of cemental tear using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: A total of 813 CBCT images were evaluated in this retrospective study. Root fragments that were separated from the root surface on CBCT images were accepted as cemental tear. The frequency of cemental tear, tooth region, tooth type, previous treatment and periapical/periodontal lesions were assessed. A chi-square test was performed to determine the relationship between the categorical variables. Results: The frequency of cemental tear was determined to be 1.85%. Of the patients, 51.3% were males (n=417) and 48.7% (n=396) were females. There was no significant relationship between the frequency of cemental tear and patient age, gender, tooth region, tooth type and previous treatment (p>0.05). In teeth with periapical/periodontal lesions, significantly more frequent cemental tears were observed (p<0.05). Conclusion: Early diagnosis is essential to prevent advanced bone loss and extraction of teeth with cemental tear. Clinicians may misdiagnose teeth with cemental tears without adequately evaluating all predisposing factors, clinical features and available radiographs. Further studies with larger sample sizes could be useful to more precisely determine the predisposing factors and clinical features of cemental tear.

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