Nuclear anomalies in the buccal cells of children under dental treatment

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Since some dental materials may be aggressive to a person's body, studies involving such materials seem to be necessary. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the genotoxicity of dental materials through micronucleus (MN) test. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Exfoliated buccal cells of 4-to-12 year-old children, who were on some type of dental treatment, were collected either before or after the treatment ending. Each sample was composed of 1,000 cells per patient. Student's t test was used for comparison. RESULTS: The dental materials were divided into 3 groups, as follows: cement, monomers, and their combination. Treatments using monomer + cement-based materials were found to increase significantly the number of binucleated (BN) cells, (p < 0.05) which indicate several degenerative nuclear changes. CONCLUSION: The combination of cement-based dental material with monomers increases the cytotoxic action of dental materials.