Diagnóstico de conducto radicular en C en segundos molares mandibulares mediante la «evidencia del ángulo obtenido». Estudio piloto de validación.

Background: The gold standard to diagnose second molars with C-shaped root canals prior to beginning an endodontic and restorative treatment is cone-beam tomography. Tomographic services are hard to access and have a low distribution in dental clinics this has led us to design an alternative technique in panoramic radiographs named «evidence of the obtained angle» (EAO). Objective: The aim of this study was to create a breakpoint and estimate its diagnostic accuracy through a pilot study; its results will be used in a future investigation of validation of diagnostic tests. Methods: The pilot study included 37 cone-beam computed tomographies (CBCT) of a database property of the authors, which included their respective panoramic reconstruction, to which the technique EAO was applied; its results were validated applying diagnostic tests. A total of 74 second mandibular molars were analyzed. Results: A prevalence of 39.19 second molars with C-shaped root canal was obtained (CI 95%: 27.39:50.99), of which 61.11% corresponded to female patients. The breakpoint retrieved was of 6.9 degrees, the sensitivity was of 89.66% (IC 95% 76.85: 100.00), specifi city 93.33% (IC 95% 84.93:100.00), index of validity 91.89% (IC 95% 85.00:98.79) positive predictive value 89.66% (IC 95% 76.85:100.00) and negative predictive value 93.33% (IC 95% 84.93:100.00), index of Youden 0.83 (IC 95% 0.70:0.96), positive