Clinical and radiographic outcomes of direct pulp capping therapy in primary molar teeth following haemostasis with various antiseptics: a randomised controlled trial.

AIM: This was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of direct pulp capping (DPC) therapy in primary molar teeth following haemostasis with various antiseptics for 12 months. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 70 vital primary molar teeth with deep dentin caries were randomly allocated to different antiseptic groups. After observing the pinpoint exposure, 0.9% saline solution (SS, control), 0.5% sodium hypochlorite (SH), 2% chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX), or 0.1% octenidine dihydrochloride (OCT) was applied with sterile cotton pellets for 3 min before calcium hydroxide (CH) DPC therapy. Statistical evaluation: The intergroup radiographic success criteria were analysed using a Kruskal-Wallis test in each follow-up period at a confidence interval of 95%. RESULTS: After 12 months, all groups showed a clinical success rate of 100% (no clinical failures were observed at the time of pulpectomy or extraction), and the overall radiographic success rates were OCT (100%) > SH (94.74%) > CHX (93.3%) > SS (84.21%), respectively (p > 0.05). OCT did not exhibit any failures. The undesirable radiographic failure types (pulpectomy or extraction) were mostly observed in the SS group. CONCLUSION: Compared with SS, the success of conventional CH usage in DPC therapy of primary molar teeth could be enhanced by providing acceptable disinfection features with antiseptic solutions. OCT seems to have relative beneficial effects compared to SH and CHX.

The success rates of a glass ionomer cement and a resin-based fissure sealant placed by fifth-year undergraduate dental students.

AIM: To evaluate retention and caries prevention of a glass-ionomer cement (GIC) and a resin-based fissure sealant placed by fifth-year undergraduate dental students. METHODS: The study was conducted according to a split-mouth, randomised clinical trial. Children with at least one pair of caries-free permanent first molars with deep pits and fissures were included in the study. The children were selected from a population that had a high risk for dental caries. Sealant materials were applied by fifth-year undergraduate dental students on 346 fissures of the first permanent molars in 173 children. The ages of the children ranged from 7-15 years (mean 9.4). Two researchers at the clinics supervised all of the procedures. Intra-examiner reproducibility and inter-examiner reproducibility were 0.90 and 0.86, respectively, for the clinical assessment of sealant retention and caries evaluation. RESULTS: GIC sealants were completely lost in 31.9% and resin-based sealants in 16.6% (p<0.05). The total retention rates of GIC sealants and resin-based sealants were 13.8% and 20.8%, respectively. After 24 months, the caries increment was 3.4% for GIC sealants and 4.8% for resin-based sealants (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The retention of GIC sealants was markedly inferior to the retention of resin-based sealants; however, GIC when used as a pit and fissure sealant was slightly more effective in preventing occlusal caries.