Elsevier

Journal of Endodontics

Volume 36, Issue 11, November 2010, Pages 1778-1781
Journal of Endodontics

Clinical Research
Histologic Assessment of Human Pulp Response to Capping with Mineral Trioxide Aggregate and a Novel Endodontic Cement

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joen.2010.08.024Get rights and content

Abstract

Introduction

This study was conducted to compare human pulp response to mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and a novel endodontic cement (NEC) when used as pulp capping materials after a time period of 2 and 8 weeks.

Methods

Thirty-two premolar teeth that were scheduled for extraction for orthodontic reasons were exposed and capped with either MTA or NEC. Half of the specimens underwent extraction and histologic analysis after 2 weeks, and the remaining half were assessed after 8 weeks. Each slide was graded histologically according to the morphology of the dentinal bridge, thickness of the dentinal bridge, presence of odontoblast cells, and inflammation of the pulp.

Results

Both MTA and NEC showed significantly better pulp response after 8 weeks compared with 2 weeks, with a thicker and more tubular pattern of the dentinal bridge, less pulp inflammation, and a palisade pattern of odontoblast cells. Although MTA and NEC groups had no significant difference in each measure in both time intervals, NEC induced a thicker dentinal bridge with less pulp inflammation at both 2 weeks and 8 weeks, compared with MTA.

Conclusions

MTA and NEC showed similar biocompatibility and favorable response in pulp capping treatment and inducing the formation of the dentinal bridge.

Section snippets

Material and Methods

This prospective randomized controlled clinical trial was performed in vivo and was approved by the Ethics Committee of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, in 2009, and the protocol was registered at clinical trials.gov (Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT01066533). First premolars that were scheduled for extraction for orthodontic reasons were selected. Inclusion criteria included the following: (1) patients who were 15–25 years old; (2) patients with no systemic disease; (3) teeth

Results

The control intact teeth showed normal pulp tissue with no inflammatory cells, with columnar odontoblast cells. A summary of the results is presented in Table 2.

In the NEC group after 2 weeks (group 1), there was fibrous tissue with no calcification at the exposure site in 62.5% of specimens, and only 37.5% showed some evidence of calcified tissues in the fibrous matrix. In 50% of specimens the mean thickness of barrier was 0.1–0.25 mm, and the others were less. In this group, 50% of samples

Discussion

Preserving the vitality of exposed pulp, particularly in immature teeth, is the ultimate goal in vital pulp therapy. Stanley (12) advocated that pulp capping procedures could be performed successfully on asymptomatic carious exposures. Haskell et al (13) proved that asymptomatic carious exposures could survive an average of 12 years after pulp capping. MTA has been introduced with reasonable properties for direct pulp capping such as less inflammation and greater dentinal bridge formation,

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Vice Chancellor for Research of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences and Endodontic Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University M.C., Tehran, Iran. The authors wish to thank Dr Hamid Jafarazadeh for assistance in preparing this manuscript and D. Saeed Asgary for providing NEC cement.

The authors deny any conflicts of interest.

References (26)

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