A common failure in endodontic treatment of the permanent maxillary first molars is likely to be caused by an inability to locate, clean, and obturate the second mesiobuccal (MB) canals. Because of the importance of knowledge on these additional canals, there have been numerous studies which investigated the maxillary first molar MB root canal morphology using in vivo and laboratory methods. In this article, the protocols, advantages and disadvantages of various methodologies for in-depth study of maxillary first molar MB root canal morphology were discussed. Furthermore, newly identified configuration types for the establishment of new classification system were suggested based on two image reformatting techniques of micro-computed tomography, which can be useful as a further 'Gold Standard' method for in-depth morphological study of complex root canal systems.

Competition will usually develop between the opposing walls as the restorative resin shrinks during polymerization. Magnitude of this phenomenon may be depended upon cavity configuration and volume.

The purpose of this sturdy was to evaluate the effect of cavity configuration and volume on microleakage of composite resin restoration that has margins on the enamel site only.

The labial enamel of forty bovine teeth was ground using a model trimmer to expose a flat enamel surface. Four groups with cylindrical cavities were defined, according to volume and configuration factor (Depth × Diameter / C-factor) - Group I: 1.5 mm × 2.0 mm / 4.0, Group II: 1.5 mm × 6.0 mm / 2.0, Group III: 2.0 mm × 1.72 mm / 5.62, Group IV: 2.0 mm × 5.23 mm / 2.54.

After treating with fifth-generation one-bottle adhesive - BC Plus™ (Vericom, AnYang, Korea), cavities were bulk filled with microhybrid composite resin - Denfill™ (Vericom). Teeth were stored in distilled water for one day at room temperature and were finished and polished with Sof-Lex system. Specimens were thermocycled 500 times between 5℃ and 55℃ for 30 second at each temperature.

Teeth were isolated with two layers of nail varnish except the restoration surface and 1 mm surrounding margins. Electrical conductivity (µA) was recorded in distilled water by electrochemical method. Microleakage scores were compared and analyzed using two-way ANOVA at 95% level.

The results were as follows:

1. Small cavity volume showed lower microleakage score than large one, however, there was no statistically significant difference.

2. There was no relationship between cavity configuration and microleakage.

Factors of cavity configuration and volume did not affect on microleakage of resin restorations with enamel margins only.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cavity shape, bond quality of bonding agent and volume of resin composite on shrinkage stress developed at the cavity floor. This was done by measuring the shear bond strength with respect to iris materials (cavity shape; adhesive-coated dentin as a high C-factor and Teflon-coated metal as a low C-factor), bonding agents (bond quality; Scotchbond™ Multi-purpose and Xeno®III) and iris hole diameters (volume; 1 mm or 3 mm in diameter × 1.5 mm in thickness). Ninety-six molars were randomly divided into 8 groups (2 × 2 × 2 experimental setup). In order to simulate a Class I cavity, shear bond strength was measured on the flat occlusal dentin surface with irises. The iris hole was filled with Z250 restorative resin composite in a bulk-filling manner. The data was analyzed using three-way ANOVA and the Tukey test. Fracture mode analysis was also done. When the cavity had high C-factor, good bond quality and large volume, the bond strength decreased significantly. The volume of resin composite restricted within the well-bonded cavity walls is also be suggested to be included in the concept of C-factor, as well as the cavity shape and bond quality. Since the bond quality and volume can exaggerate the effect of cavity shape on the shrinkage stress developed at the resin-dentin bond, resin composites must be filled in a method, which minimizes the volume that can increase the C-factor.