Direct Pulp Capping with Calcium Hydroxide or Mineral Trioxide Aggregate: A Meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Pulp capping is a dental procedure to preserve pulp vitality.
• Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA) and Calcium Hydroxide (CH) are commonly used pulp capping agents.
• Comparing the clinical effectiveness of MTA and CH is crucial for optimizing dental treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a meta-analysis comparing the effectiveness of MTA and CH in human pulp capping procedures.
• To evaluate success rates, inflammatory responses, and dentin bridge formation for both materials.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was performed across PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Knowledge databases.
• Data extraction and analysis were conducted independently by two authors.
• A fixed-effects model was employed due to the absence of significant heterogeneity among the included studies.

Main Results:

• Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis.
• MTA demonstrated a significantly higher success rate compared to CH in both randomized controlled trials and retrospective nonrandomized trials.
• MTA proved superior to CH in reducing inflammatory responses and promoting dentin bridge formation.

Conclusions:

• Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA) offers a higher success rate for direct pulp capping than Calcium Hydroxide (CH).
• MTA significantly reduces pulpal inflammatory response and enhances predictable hard dentin bridge formation.
• MTA is a suitable alternative to CH for direct pulp capping applications.