Clinical importance of the presence of lateral canals in endodontics.

This article presents a clinical case in which the diagnosis and treatment of a lateral canal was instrumental in the successful completion of endodontic therapy. Endodontic treatment was performed by crown-down shaping and copious irrigation (using 2.5% sodium hypochlorite associated with 17% ethylenediaminetetracetic acid (EDTA)). After 10 months, there were no clinical symptoms of inflammation and radiographs showed periradicular healing.