A clinical study of direct pulp capping applied to carious-exposed pulps

Direct pulp capping of carious-exposed pulp was performed on 44 teeth. We evaluated the success rates of these cases, and analyzed the relationships between the success rates and their clinical findings. Furthermore, we examined the length of time necessary for adequate postoperative follow-up. The success rate in this study was 81.8%. Age of the patients, type of teeth, responses to thermal stimuli and percussion, and the diameter of pulpal exposure had no bearing on the success rate. However, the degree of bleeding on pulpal exposure was related to the success rate (p = 0.042). The success rates of cases in which postoperative follow-up periods were 3 to 18 months were similar (80 to 83%), whereas those with follow-up for 21 months (91.7%) and 24 months (100%) showed higher success rates. These results showed that direct pulp capping was applicable to carious-exposed pulp, and the degree of bleeding is indicative of the prognosis of this treatment. The length of time necessary for adequate postoperative follow-up was suggested to be 21 months.