Assessment of a 2 percent buffered glutaraldehyde solution in pulpotomized primary teeth of schoolchildren.

This investigation was undertaken, clinically and radiographically, to assess the effect of glutaraldehyde as a pulp medicament in pulpotomized cariously exposed primary molars. Fifty-three primary molars of thirty-two second-grade children were evaluated after being treated by pulpotomy utilizing a 2 percent buffered glutaraldehyde solution. Failures were observed in 5.7 percent of the teeth at the six-month evaluation and increased with time: 9.6 percent after 12 months; and 18 percent after 25 months. Internal resorption was observed in six teeth; external resorption was found in only one tooth. Pulp canal obliteration, which was not listed as a failure, was observed in one tooth after 6 months, yielding a total of twenty teeth at the final examination. In thirty-eight pulpotomized teeth (82.6 percent), the resorption rate was similar to their antimeres; in another seven, root resorption was faster; and only one pulpotomized tooth resorbed more slowly than its antimere. The relatively high failure rate in the present study does not justify recommending a 2 percent buffered glutaraldehyde solution as a substitute to formocresol.

The risk of intentional dissolution of the smear layer after mechanical preparation of root canals.

The root canals of 27 caries-free human cuspids were divided into 3 groups of 9 teeth each. Group I was mechanically prepared with reamers and files. Alternate irrigation with 5.25% NaOCl and 3% hydrogen peroxide was used between each instrument. The group II root canals were prepared with the use of alternate irrigation with the same concentrations of NaOCl and hydrogen peroxide and finally flushed with 17% EDTA and NaOCl solution. Group III was prepared mechanically with the use of sterile distilled water as an irrigant followed by a final flush with 17% EDTA solution. The root canals of all specimens were obturated with gutta-percha points and Tubliseal by means of the lateral condensation technique. After the root canals were obturated, samples of each of the three groups were immersed in separate flasks containing Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Corynebacterium hofmannii. All the microorganisms tested invaded the coronal dentin--where the access cavity had been sealed with Fynal--and/or the main foramen.

The usefulness of dye-penetration studies reexamined.

An in vitro study to determine the usefulness of dye-penetration studies was conducted. In part I, teeth were prepared through the foramen and then left open, either apically, coronally, or at both ends. In all cases, the dye did not penetrate the full length of the canal. The only exception was when both ends were left open and the teeth were placed into the dye in an upright position. In part II, a measurable defect in a canal filling the length of the canal was created and left open apically. When the tooth was immersed in dye, the penetration was incomplete. When the air was removed by vacuum pump prior to placement in the dye, the penetration was total. The validity of dye studies that do not consider entrapped air is open to question.

The effect of an antibiotic/corticosteroid paste on inflammatory root resorption in vivo.

Progressive external inflammatory root resorption, a result of persistent inflammation within the periodontal membrane, will cause eventual destruction of the tooth root if the inflammation is not eradicated. This study examined the effects of an antibiotic/corticosteroid paste on experimental inflammatory resorption induced in monkeys in vivo. Histologic evaluation of results with the use of a morphometric technique revealed that the paste eliminated inflammatory root resorption and had no damaging effects upon the periodontal membrane. It was concluded that this antibiotic/corticosteroid combination is an effective medication for use in the treatment of progressive root resorption in traumatically injured teeth.

Overextended gutta-percha and Kloroperka N-O root canal fillings. Radiographic findings after 10-17 years.

A representative sample, 55%, of the patients treated endodontically by undergraduate students in a teaching clinic during the years 1963 to 1969 were reexamined 10-17 years later. Gutta-percha/Kloroperka-NO root fillings (282), classified as having surplus material at the time of treatment, were evaluated in follow-up radiographs. In about 80% of the cases of overfilling, no excess root filling material could be traced at the reexamination. In a few cases only, the appearance of the excess material was nearly identical to that at the time of treatment, whereas the remaining overfillings (18%) showed a reduced size. Among the recorded variables only one seemed to have a major impact on the prognosis--namely, the presence or absence of an apical radiolucency at the time of treatment, indicating that infection was the important factor when failures occurred. Apical overfilling per se had little influence on the long-term healing result as judged radiographically.

Evaluation of an iodoform paste in root canal therapy for infected primary teeth.

The treatment guidelines for success were if clinically the tooth was painless, without pathologic mobility, and the gingiva was healthy. No clinical or radiographic signs or symptoms of failure were observed in forty-three of forty-five teeth.