In vivo comparison of bioceramic putty and mineral trioxide aggregate as pulpotomy medicament in primary molars. A 12-month follow-up randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Pulpotomy is one of the common vital pulp therapy procedures for primary molars. The present trend in pulpotomy materials is to use regenerative materials that promote dentinogenesis. Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) is a very popular pulpotomy material. However, it has some limitations including difficult handling characteristics and long setting time. Tricalcium silicate cements evolved, in which bioceramic cements came into existence, have better properties than MTA. The aims and objectives of the study are to evaluate the efficacy of bioceramic putty with MTA as a pulp medicament in primary molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this randomized in vivo study, sixty primary molars in children aged 4–9 years indicated for pulpotomy were selected. They were assigned using nonprobability convenient sampling technique into two groups: test group – bioceramic putty (EndoSequence Root Repair Material) and control group – MTA (Angelus). After pulp therapy, teeth were restored with stainless steel crowns. Recall clinical and radiographic evaluation was done at 3-, 6-, and 12-month interval to assess success rate. The data were statistically analyzed using Chi-square test, and P ≤ 0.05 was set for statistical significance. RESULTS: At 3-month interval, the success rates were 96.7% and 93.1% with bioceramic and MTA groups, respectively. At 6- and 12-month interval, the success rates were 93.3% and 93.1% with bioceramic and MTA groups, respectively. However, the difference in success rate between the groups was statistically not significant at all the time intervals (P = 0.533 at 3 months, P = 0.972 at 6 and 12 months). CONCLUSION: Bioceramic putty exhibited comparable results to MTA. Hence, it can be considered alternative pulpotomy agent.