Assessment of the knowledge of canalis sinuosus among dentists and dental students: An on-line based cross-sectional study.

Backgrounds Canalis sinuosus (CS) is a neurovascular canal that corresponds to a small branch of the infraorbital canal. Objective This study aimed at assessing the knowledge and detection performance of CS among dentists and dental students. Methods Four-hundred and five dentists and dental students answered a questionnaire with three parts: 1. Socio-demographic; 2. Clinical cases with cone- beam computed tomography (CBCT) sections showing CS, and 3. Previous knowledge about CS. Chi-square test and Spearman's correlation test were used to compare results as appropriate. P-values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Most participants did not identify CS in any CBCT. There was association between the number of correct answers and dental specialties. Most individuals had not learned about CS previously. There was association between past knowledge of CS and gender, highest academic degree, working environment, dental specialty, and number of correct answers but not with age or experience in dentistry. Conclusions This study suggests that most dentists are not aware about CS and do not know how to diagnose it. Previous knowledge about CS positively influenced its identification in CBCT.