2-years Clinical Outcome of Direct Pulp Capping With Resin-based Materials

Objectives: To evaluate the influence of three adhesive resin-based materials in the clinical outcome of direct pulp capping. The null hypothesis is that different resin-based materials do not influence the outcome of teeth with pulp exposion.
Methods: Sixty patients with one asymptomatic primary carious lesion which showed pulp exposure during cavity cleaning were selected and included for this in-vivo study. Direct pulp capping was randomly performed with three different materials (n=20): (G1) self-etch adhesive system (ProtectBond, Kuraray), (G2) glass-ionomer cement (Fuji IX, GC) and (G3) a light-cured MTA-like material (TheraCal, Bisco) were applied on exposed pulp according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Direct restoration with a nanohybrid resin composite (Venus Diamond, Heraeus Kultzer) was then performed. Patients were recalled at one week, six months, one and two years follow-up. All the datas collected were statistically analyzed with a χ² test (p<0,01).
Results: After 2-years of clinical function, in Group 1 teeth were vital at 83,3%, in Group 2 at 66,6% and in Group 3 at 93,3%. The result of the test (χ² =10,3) is in the area of null hypothesis refusal (χ² =9,21), so it is possible to refuse null hypothesis and confirm a significant statistical difference between materials and necrosis.
Conclusions: The use of a light-cured MTA-like material (TheraCal, Bisco) seems to significantly influence the clinical outcome of teeth with pulp exposure. Further follow-up controls and an increased number of patients are necessary to confirm the results of this in-vivo study.