A

Bicuspidization (premolarization) involves surgically sectioning a mandibular molar through the furcation so it functions as two premolar-like teeth—each root keeps its corresponding half of the crown; no root portion is removed. This matches “separation of mandibular molar mesial and distal roots with their respective crown portions,” whereas removal of one half describes hemisection, not bicuspidization [Bohnenkamp & Garcia 2004, PMID 15643772; Sharma et al. 2015, PMID 26147162].