Pulpal response to different pulp capping methods after pulp exposure by air abrasion

Air abrasion is regaining popularity especially in the area of pediatric dentistry due to its ease of use and its advantages. Due to the lost of tactile information, while using this technique, there is an increased risk for pulpal exposure. On the other hand, Ca(OH)2 medicament has been proven to induce dentin bridge formation, but an adequate sealing seems to be even more important that the capping material used. The purpose of this study was two fold: to assess the pulpal response after pulpal exposure by air abrasion and to evaluate the healing potential after using Ca(OH)2 medicament or Liner Bond IITM as a capping agent. Two hundred sixteen teeth from mixed-bred dogs were used in this study.The teeth were divided into three groups,A) pulpal exposure by air-abrasion followed by sealing of the cavity with Liner Bond IITM, B) pul-pal exposure by air-abrasion and Ca(OH)2 pulp capping and C) pulpal exposure by high-speed followed by air-abrasion and Ca(OH)2 pulp capping as a control group. The animals were sacrificed after 7, 14, 30 and 60 days and a histopathological evaluation was undertaken. After applying Analysis of Variance to compare the groups, it was observed that at earlier observation periods, the inflammatory criteria near the exposure site were different among the groups.As time elapsed, the inflammation was resolved in the pulp tissue, however, the odontoblastic layer and the dentin bridge formation had a highly statistically signifi-cant difference (p<0.001) among the various groups at all observation periods. In addition, a positive cor-relation was observed between the organization of the odontoblastic layer and the dentin bridge forma-tion mainly after 30 days. It could be concluded that dentin bridge formation could be achieved with the use of Ca(OH)2 or Liner Bond IITM as capping agent with an adequate sealing. However, the formation is delayed especially when Liner Bond IITM is used as capping agent.

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