Histological evaluation of keratin and keratin with tricalcium phosphate as pulp capping agents: An animal study

Keratin is a naturally derived biomaterial that is biocompatible and can enhance pulp healing by a reparative response. There are limited studies on the effect of keratin on the repair and regeneration of dental tissue. The present study was conducted to histologically evaluate the pulpal response and calcific barrier formation after using keratin, tricalcium phosphate (TCP), and keratin + TCP as a direct pulp capping agent on goat teeth after a 90-day experimental period.

An in vivo animal study evaluated 36 teeth from 4 male goats (six lower incisors and Three lower premolars per goat) that were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 12 per group). Class V cavities were prepared on each tooth, and pulp tissues were capped with keratin (Group 1), TCP (Group II), and keratin + TCP (Group III). After 90 days, the teeth were extracted and histologically compared for the formation of a calcific barrier and pulpal response to different pulp-capping agents. Chi-square test and one-way analysis of variance were used to analyze the data.

Histological evaluation revealed no significant difference in the distribution of samples with reference to inflammation (P = 0.71), vitality (P = 0.19), and mineralization (P = 0.35). Both keratin and Keratin + TCP demonstrated a higher thickness of calcific barrier (P < 0.05) than TCP alone and had comparable results between them.

Keratin + TCP may serve as an alternative for a pulp-capping agent due to their ability to induce a calcific barrier compared to keratin and TCP alone.