Assessment of a 2 percent buffered glutaraldehyde solution in pulpotomized primary teeth of schoolchildren

This investigation was undertaken, clinically and radiographically, to assess the effect of glutaraldehyde as a pulp medicament in pulpotomized cariously exposed primary molars. Fifty-three primary molars of thirty-two second-grade children were evaluated after being treated by pulpotomy utilizing a 2 percent buffered glutaraldehyde solution. Failures were observed in 5.7 percent of the teeth at the six-month evaluation and increased with time: 9.6 percent after 12 months; and 18 percent after 25 months. Internal resorption was observed in six teeth; external resorption was found in only one tooth. Pulp canal obliteration, which was not listed as a failure, was observed in one tooth after 6 months, yielding a total of twenty teeth at the final examination. In thirty-eight pulpotomized teeth (82.6 percent), the resorption rate was similar to their antimeres; in another seven, root resorption was faster; and only one pulpotomized tooth resorbed more slowly than its antimere. The relatively high failure rate in the present study does not justify recommending a 2 percent buffered glutaraldehyde solution as a substitute to formocresol.