Comparative evaluation of formocresol and mineral trioxide aggregate as a pulpotomy agent.

INTRODUCTION : Preservation of primary teeth, which has been affected by carious lesion or trauma, forms a major problem in pediatric dental practice. The principle of pulp treatment in primary dentition is that tooth should remain in mouth in a nonpathological healthy condition to fulfill its role in primary dentition. Maintenance of primary tooth is important for development of arch form, esthetics, function, and mastication and also for normal emergence of permanent teeth. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES : • To evaluate and compare MTA and Formocresol as a pulpotomy medicament by clinical and radiographic assessment. • To assess the histological features of MTA and Formocresol as pulpotomy medicaments. MATERIALS & METHODS : The study was conducted on children who had attended the out patient department of Pediatric and Preventive dentistry, Ragas dental college, Chennai with good general health and no history of systemic illness or hospitalization. The Ethical Committee in Human Research of the Institution approved the study. Participation in the study was voluntary and a written consent was obtained from the parents or guardians. The study was performed on 100 mandibular molar teeth requiring pulpotomy treatment. Children between age four and six years of both the sexes were randomly selected and divided into Formocresol or MTA group. In case a child with two molars needed pulpotomy, the second tooth was assigned to the alternate group. In case more than two were present requiring for treatment, random assignment was used. RESULTS : In the present study MTA has grater success rate at end of 12 months [clinically (100% MTA vs. 91.3%Formocresol), radiographically (95.74% MTA vs. 78.26% Formocresol) and Overall (97.87%MTA vs. 84.78%)] when compared to formocresol. The study is limited to a 12-month review and it requires complete follow up till the eruption of sucedaneous tooth. CONCLUSION : MTA is superior to Formocresol clinically. MTA is superior to Formocresol radiographically. Histological analysis showed better reparative ability with hard tissue barrier formation with MTA compared to Formocresol. Thus it can be concluded that MTA has biological characteristics to be used as pulpotomy medicament in deciduous teeth