Biological Evaluations.

Abstract Body: Hydraulic cements are a group of materials which hydrate in contact with water and also interact with environmental fluids. They are used almost exclusively for endodontic procedures with the same materials being used for a range of procedures. The main features of hydraulic cements with tricalcium silicate chemistry are the formation of calcium hydroxide on setting and the interaction of these materials with the clinical environment. This interaction is dependent on the location that the material is placed. There are a number of materials currently available for clinical use with variable evidence of their efficacy and mode of action.

Regardless of the specific material properties and interactions, clinicians use hydraulic cements with the same clinical protocol as that used for materials with different chemistries. For most clinical procedures, the scientific evidence for the clinical protocol adopted is not always present since most clinical techniques are adopted and descended in different generations without any research undertaken to validate their effectiveness.

Biological studies are important to test the interaction of a material with the host tissues. Biological studies are conducted at the cellular and tissue level and also the effect of the specific regime used on the elimination of bacteria is assessed.

The aim of this symposium is to evaluate the scientific evidence for the biological studies undertaken for hydraulic calcium silicate cements used for different procedures in Endodontology and whether this influences the clinical use of these materials.