Prevalence of periapical lesions in non-endodontically and endodontically treated teeth in an urban Iraqi adult subpopulation: A retrospective CBCT analysis

Background: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of apical periodontitis (AP) and its association with the presence/quality of root canal filling (RCF) and coronal restoration (CR) in Iraqi population. Material and Methods: A total of 385 CBCT scans of patients (18-45) yrs. old with 9250 teeth were examined. The teeth were grouped according to the presence/absence of apical radiolucency, presence/radiographic quality of RCF, and CR. Chi-square and Kappa were used to assess associations and intra-consensus reliability. Logistic regression was used to predict risk factors associated with AP. The significant level was set at p0.05). The presence of AP was significantly associated with inadequate RCF (vs adequate RCF) (OR=4.16, CI 95% 2.29-7.56, P0.05). Intra-consensus reliability was (0.9) for AP and (0.82) for RCF and CR quality. Conclusions: AP was highly prevalent in teeth with previous root canal filling compared to non-treated teeth. AP was significantly associated with inadequacy of root canal filling but not with the inadequacy of coronal restoration.