Comparison of Dycal and formocresol pulpotomies in young permanent teeth in monkeys

This study compared Dycal and formocresol pulpotomies on young healthy permanent teeth with respect to continued dentinogenesis and root end development. Pulpotomy was performed on a total of forty permanent teeth with incompletely developed roots in three young stump-tailed monkeys (Macaca speciosa). Twenty teeth were treated with Dycal and twenty with formocresol. At the end of the experimental periods the animals were killed and the specimens were prepared and sectioned en bloc for histologic examination. The interval between treatment and death ranged between 7 and 797 days. Before each experimental procedure a Procion vital dye was administered as a marking agent for continued root development. Twelve of twenty teeth treated with Dycal and seventeen of twenty teeth treated with formocresol were judged to be successful as evidenced by continued root development, absence of periapical pathoses, and the presence of noninflamed or only mildly inflamed pulps. Brown and Brenn staining showed bacteria within the pulps of the teeth that failed. All but one of the teeth in this study showed evidence of continued root development as confirmed by Procion labeling.