Effects of vitamin E dietary supplements on the exposed dental pulp in rats

Forty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two equal groups, control (Group 1) and experimental (Group 2). Group 2 received 100 mg of dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E) twice weekly by the oral route. After 2 weeks the animals in both groups were subjected to pulp exposures that were capped with zinc oxide and eugenol and to pulp exposures that were left open. The oral administration of 100 mg dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate in the Group 2 animals was continued for periods of 1 day to 4 weeks after the operative procedures. The animals were killed 1 day, 3 days, and 1, 2, and 4 weeks after the procedures. The most severe, prolonged, and extensive pulpal disease was seen in both groups when the pulp exposure was left open to the oral flora. The most favorable repair and healing results took place after 1, 2, and 4 weeks in the Group 2 animals in pulp exposures covered with zinc oxide and eugenol.