Comparative evaluation of caries removal efficacy between chemomechanical agents & conventional methods regarding time consumption: An in vivo study

Introduction: The use of minimally invasive procedures and attention to patient comfort are of great importance, especially for dental treatment in young children. This has led to the development of chemomechanical methods for caries removal. Aim: To evaluate and compare the efficacy in terms of time consumption between the chemomechanical caries removal agent Papacarie and conventional method of caries removal. Methods: Subjects for this study were chosen from the outpatients of the Dept of Pediatric & Preventive Dentistry, Karpaga Vinayaga Institute of Dental Sciences. Twenty five children (age 6 -10 years) with bilateral frank cavitated lesions were included in this study. Bilateral primary teeth with comparable degrees of carious destruction were chosen in each child for caries removal with Papacarie and rotary instruments. The time taken for caries removal was measured using stopwatch. Results The time taken for caries removal in chemomechanical caries removal method was longer than the conventional method which was assessed using the student t test. Conclusions: Papacarie can be an effective clinical alternative treatment for the removal of occlusal dentinal caries in cavitated primary molars but requires longer time as compared to conventional method