Comparison clinical and radiographic success rate of MTA and TheraCal in pulpotomy of primary teeth with 12-month follow-up: A split-mouth randomized controlled clinical Trial

Abstract

Introduction: Pulpotomy is a therapeutic procedure to maintain vitality and function of the remaining radicular pulp. Pulpotomy agents should maintain radicular pulp tissue, prevent bacterial microleakage and should be biocompatible and promote pulpal healing. Laboratory and clinical observations have been suggested that different techniques and coatings are required regarding the pulpotomy of primary teeth. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical & radiographic success rate of MTA & TheraCal in pulpotomy of primary teeth within two follow-up sessions at 6- and 12-month after the pulpotomy. Methods and Materials: In this split-mouth randomized clinical trial, 90 bilateral primary molars in 45 healthy 5-8 years old children were selected and treated by pulpotomy using TheraCal in one of the bilateral teeth and MTA in the other one, randomly. Clinical and radiographic follow-up was performed at 6- and 12-month after treatment for any pulpotomy failure indications. The data were analyzed using chi-square test at a significance level of 0.05. Results: At the final follow-up session 82 teeth were available. After 12-month, the overall success rates for MTA and TheraCal were 99.3% and 98.1%, respectively. The difference between outcomes of the two groups was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusion: TheraCal can be used as an alternative material for MTA in pulpotomy of primary teeth.