ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study compared the clinical and radiographic effectiveness of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and Portland cement (PC) as pulp dressing agents in carious primary teeth. METHODOLOGY: Thirty carious primary mandibular molars of children aged 5-9 years old were randomly assigned to MTA or PC groups, and treated by a conventional pulpotomy technique. The teeth were restored with resin modified glass ionomer cement. Clinical and radiographic successes and failures were recorded at 6, 12, 18 and 24-month follow-up. RESULTS: All pulpotomised teeth were clinically and radiographically successful at all follow-up appointments. Six out of 15 teeth in the PC group and five out of 14 teeth in the MTA group exfoliated throughout the follow-up period. No statistically significant difference regarding dentine bridge formation was found between both groups throughout the follow-up period. As far as pulp canal obliteration is concerned, a statistically significant difference was detected at 6-month follow-up (p <0.05), since the beginning of mineralised material deposition could be radiographically detected in 100% and 57.14% of the teeth treated with PC and MTA, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PC may serve as an effective and less expensive MTA substitute in primary molar pulpotomies. Further studies and longer follow-up assessments are needed.
Subject(s)
Aluminum Compounds/therapeutic use , Biocompatible Materials/therapeutic use , Calcium Compounds/therapeutic use , Dental Cements/therapeutic use , Molar/pathology , Oxides/therapeutic use , Pulpotomy/methods , Root Canal Filling Materials/therapeutic use , Silicates/therapeutic use , Tooth, Deciduous/pathology , Child , Child, Preschool , Composite Resins/chemistry , Dental Caries/therapy , Dental Pulp/diagnostic imaging , Dental Pulp/drug effects , Dental Restoration, Permanent/methods , Dentin, Secondary/diagnostic imaging , Dentin, Secondary/drug effects , Drug Combinations , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Glass Ionomer Cements/chemistry , Humans , Male , Methylmethacrylates/chemistry , Radiography, Bitewing , Resin Cements/chemistry , Tooth Exfoliation/physiopathology , Treatment Outcome , Zinc Oxide-Eugenol Cement/chemistryABSTRACT
AIM: To compare the effectiveness of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), calcium hydroxide (CH) and formocresol (FC) as pulp dressing agents in carious primary teeth. METHODOLOGY: Forty-five primary mandibular molars with dental caries in 23 children [AUTHOR QUERY: How many children?] between 5 and 9 years old were treated by a conventional pulpotomy technique. The teeth were randomly assigned to the experimental (CH or MTA) or control (FC) groups. After coronal pulp removal and haemostasis, remaining pulp tissue was covered with MTA paste or CH powder in the experimental groups. In the control group, diluted FC was placed with a cotton pellet over the pulp tissue for 5 min and removed; the pulp tissue was then covered with zinc oxide-eugenol (ZOE) paste. All teeth were restored with reinforced ZOE base and resin modified glass-ionomer cement. Clinical and radiographic successes and failures were recorded at 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 month follow-up. RESULTS: Forty-three teeth were available for follow-up. In the FC and MTA groups, 100% of the available teeth were clinically and radiographically successful at all follow-up appointments; dentine bridge formation could be detected in 29% of the teeth treated with MTA. In the CH group, 64% of the teeth presented clinical and radiographic failures detected throughout the follow-up period, and internal resorption was a frequent radiographic finding. CONCLUSIONS: Mineral trioxide aggregate was superior to CH and equally as effective as FC as a pulpotomy dressing in primary mandibular molars. Internal resorption was the most common radiographic finding up to 24 month after pulpotomies performed with CH.
