S-7 - Cemental Tear: An Overlooked Condition. Etiology, Diagnosis, Classification and Treatment

Cemental tear is an important condition of relevance to Endodontics and Periodontics but is often overlooked. The diagnosis of cemental tear is often challenging, even for the experienced clinician. In practice, it is common for a cemental tear to be misdiagnosed as a vertical root fracture, an endodontic–periodontal lesion, or a failed periodontal or endodontic treatment. Dentists may treat these clinical cases as pure periodontal and periapical lesions due to misdiagnosis of cemental tears. In some cases, the presence of cemental tears was realized after the extraction of non-healing teeth. Some failed cases, for unknown reasons, are due to the presence of cemental tear. The limited attention received is most likely due to the unawareness amongst dental professionals and challenges in accurately diagnosing them, resulting in misdiagnosis and erroneous treatment. In this lecture, we will review 1) the etiology, 2) clinical, radiographic, and histological features, (3) classification, 4) recommended treatment strategies linked to the classification 5) treatment outcomes of cemental tear.