Objectives: To determine the prevalence of periapical radiolucencies and endodontic treatment in an adult Japanese population.
Study design: Periapical status and length of root fillings of 672 adult patients attending Okayama University Hospital of Dentistry were evaluated using full mouth intraoral radiographs.
Results: Overall, 87% of the subjects had root-filled teeth, and 70% exhibited an apical radiolucency. Of the 16,232 teeth examined, 21% had been root-filled, and, of these, 40% exhibited an apical radiolucency. Root-filled teeth that were overfilled or that were mandibular incisors had the highest prevalence of apical radiolucencies.
Conclusions: The prevalence of root-filled teeth appears higher in this Japanese population than in Europe or America; however, the ratio of teeth with an apical radiolucency to root-filled teeth was within the range of that reported for other countries. Overfilled teeth and mandibular incisors are most likely to exhibit apical radiolucencies.