Assessment of the systemic distribution and toxicity of glutaraldehyde as a pulpotomy agent

The systemic distribution of glutaraldehyde (GA) from a pulpotomized tooth of a rat was estimated to be 40 nanomoles or 25% of the applied dose. Metabolic studies disclosed that GA was eliminated in urine and expired gases; 90% was cleared from body tissues in 3 days. To evaluate the toxicity of GA, doses 500x greater than that systemically distributed from a pulpotomy site were infused into the jugular veins of rats. Twenty-four hours postinfusion the rats were evaluated in vivo for physiologic changes or sacrificed for biochemical and histologic evaluation of harvested tissues. Only one of the assays, a physiologic parameter, was altered by the 500x dose. Considering the relatively large dose administered and the limited effects, we conclude that GA would not be toxic when used as a pulpotomy agent.