ABSTRACT
Background: Pulpotomy is a vital pulp therapy performed in carious pulp exposures in teeth in which the inflamed coronal pulp is removed and medicament is placed to conserve the vital root pulps. Recently, simvastatin which is a cholesterol-lowering drug has been found to be associated with the pulp regenerative potential. Aim: The aim of this parallel two-arm randomized control trial was to evaluate and compare the clinical and radiographic efficacy of diode laser (DL) and simvastatin gel (SG) in pulpotomy of carious primary molars. Methods: Hundred primary molars (in 98 children, 65 males, 33 females with age 4–8 years) requiring pulpotomy were randomized into the DL or SG group. Pulpotomy was performed as per the standardized protocol; thereafter, all teeth were restored with resin modified glass ionomer cement followed by stainless steel crowns. Follow-up evaluations were done at 3 and 12 months using clinical and radiographic criteria. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test at a significance level of 0.05. Results: At 12 months, out of 92 teeth available for clinical and radiographic evaluation by blinded evaluators, DL group showed clinical and radiographic success rates of 76.1% and 52.1%, while SG group showed 80.4% and 65.2% success rates, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the efficacy of two techniques clinically (P = 0.49) or radiographically (P = 0.30). Conclusions: Both SG and DL had similar efficacy for primary tooth pulpotomy, clinically and radiographically after 12 months. Considering its ease of application and low-cost, SG can be recommended as a potential pulpotomy medicament in primary molars.
ABSTRACT
Context: Children sustaining maxillofacial trauma may undergo computed tomographic (CT) examination to exclude potential complications, which pave way for spread of infection into the meningeal region. Following treatment, these children report for management of their dental injuries as out‑patients for which a separate conventional radiographic examination is usually done. The usefulness of the initial maxillofacial CT scan in evaluating dental injuries needs to be assessed so as to possibly avoid children from being subjected to a separate radiographic examination. Aims: The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of pediatric dentists to assess intrusive injuries in primary dentition from preexisting maxillofacial CT scans of children. Settings and Design: Hospital based cross‑sectional study. Subjects and Methods: Among 70 pediatric patients who were admitted following maxillofacial injuries, 10 children underwent CT examination. CT segments displaying the tooth bearing portions of the jaw were reformatted using the Dentascan software and three precalibrated pediatric dentists clinically examined the selected children and with the use of Dentascan based CT sections assessed the relative position of the intruded teeth in relation to the permanent successor and planned treatment for each individual intruded tooth. Statistical Analysis: Fleiss Kappa statistics. Results: There was perfect agreement between the interpretations of all participants (κ = 1.0000, 95% confidence interval = 0.6861-1.3139) and the interpretations of each participant with the “gold standard” evaluator (κ = 1.000). Conclusion: Maxillofacial CT scans made to assess maxillofacial injuries in children can also be reliably used for assessing intrusive injuries in primary dentition.