Mineral trioxide aggregate as a root end filling material: a review of the literature

Mineral trioxide aggregate is a relatively new material developed in the 1990s. It's constituents are similar to Portland cement namely, tricalcium silicate, dicalcium silicate, tricalcium aluminate, tetracalcium aluminoferrite and calcium sulfate and bismuth oxide. It shows properties consistent with those required for root-end filling; the application it was originally developed for. It has been compared with other root-end filling materials such as amalgam, dentin-bonded composite, Super EBA, IRM and Portland cement and it's properties for root-end filling were found to be superior. It is now frequently used as a gold standard with which to compare the properties of other newly developed root-end filling material. [1,2] The following is a review of the literature regarding the properties of MTA as a root-end filling material