BiodentineTM Full Pulpotomy in Mature Permanent Teeth with Irreversible Pulpitis and Apical Periodontitis

Successful Healing of Periapical Pathology with Partial Pulpotomy in a Mature Permanent Molar: A Case Report

BACKGROUND Vital pulp therapy approaches are preferred over non-surgical root canal treatment, giving the advantage of preserving the vitality of the dental pulp and thus maintaining its benefits. Such approaches can be performed in teeth having normal apical area; however, performing vital pulp therapy approaches in teeth associated with periapical pathology remains controversial. CASE REPORT We present a case of a mature mandibular right first permanent molar tooth in a medically fit 10-year-old female diagnosed as asymptomatic irreversible pulpitis with asymptomatic apical periodontitis with periapical radiolucency having a periapical index (PAI) score of 4. Partial pulpotomy was performed instead of non-surgical root canal treatment due to uncooperativeness of the patient. Biodentine was used as a pulp capping material. The tooth was restored with resin composite permanent restoration. Six months after the procedure, an intraoral periapical radiograph revealed normal bone features with complete periapical pathology healing and development of intact lamina dura around the mesial and distal roots. The tooth responded normal to electric pulp testing (EPT), cold, percussion, and palpation tests. CONCLUSIONS Periapical pathology involvement having large periapical radiolucency exhibiting PAI score 4 in inflamed dental pulp tooth diagnosed as irreversible pulpitis does not necessitate non-surgical root canal treatment. Partial pulpotomy should be considered as an alternative treatment to promote the return dental pulp and periapical tissue to a healthy condition. Considering a similar approach in older patients would be interesting to gain a more comprehensive understanding of its potential as a treatment method.

Comparative evaluation of full and partial pulpotomy in permanent teeth with irreversible pulpitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to conduct a comparative evaluation of partial and full pulpotomy techniques in cariously exposed teeth with symptoms indicative of symptomatic irreversible pulpitis. Databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science were searched. Studies evaluating and/or comparing clinical and/or radiographic success of partial and full pulpotomy in teeth diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis with a minimum of 12 months follow-up were included. The risk of bias (ROB) tool was used for the assessment of ROB. A meta-analysis was conducted to compare the healing outcome of partial and full pulpotomy. Three studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria, there was a low risk of bias in each of the five domains. Full pulpotomy had a higher success rate than partial pulpotomy, according to meta-analysis, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Vital Pulp Therapy in Permanent Teeth Diagnosed with Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis: Reports with Long-Term Controls

The aim of this study was to describe the treatment of permanent teeth diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis, which can be effectively managed with partial or total pulpotomy. This alternative approach has shown great clinical and radiographic success in the long term compared to traditional pulpectomies. In this series of clinical cases, all the teeth exhibited symptoms of intense pain upon exposure to cold and at night. The clinical examination revealed extensive caries, while radiographic imaging showed radiolucent lesions in contact with the pulp chamber, indicating symptomatic irreversible pulpitis. The chosen treatment approach was either partial or total pulpotomy. The tooth was anesthetized, and the operative field was isolated and disinfected. After removing caries with a sterile round drill, the area was rinsed with sodium hypochlorite. In some cases, a portion of the pulp tissue was removed, while in others, the entire tissue of the pulp chamber was extracted using diamond burs. Hemostasis was achieved by applying sterile cotton pellets for 2 to 6 minutes. Following that, the tissue exhibited no signs of bleeding. Bioceramic cements were used, and the tooth was definitively restored. Periodic follow-up examinations were conducted, consistently showing positive pulp responses and no evidence of periradicular radiolucent lesions on radiographs.

Full Pulpotomy as a Treatment for Irreversible Pulpitis in Permanent Teeth: A Systematic Review of the Literature Based on Case Reports

The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the current evidence of case reports where the treatment for permanent teeth with a diagnosis of irreversible pulpitis was a full pulpotomy. This study was carried out by two reviewers following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A systematic electronic search was carried out in the PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases until the year 2022 to find articles in English where the treatment for irreversible pulpitis in permanent teeth was a full pulpotomy. Literature reviews, in vitro or animal studies, abstracts, and unpublished data were excluded. The intervention, control, and outcome parameters were selected following the "Population, Interventions, Control, and Outcome" (PICO) guidelines. A total of 636 articles were found, and 14 articles were selected to be included in this review. The selected articles describe cases of full pulpotomies in mature permanent teeth with a diagnosis of irreversible pulpitis with a total of 34 (100%) successful cases, where 18 were men and 16 were women, with an average age of 19.20 ± 10.59 years and an average follow-up of 35.82 ± 26.39 months, with 12 months being the minimum follow-up time. The material used most frequently for obturation of the full pulpotomy was mineral trioxide aggregate in 16 cases (47.06%). Within the limitations of this review, full pulpotomy presents a high success rate regardless of the tooth, age, or sex as a treatment for teeth diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis.

Clinical and Radiographic Outcomes of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate Pulpotomies in Vital Permanent Teeth with Carious Pulp Exposure: A Pioneering Retrospective Study

Purpose

Vital partial pulpotomy (PP) or cervical pulpotomy (CP) in carious pulp-exposed permanent teeth preserves tooth vitality, promotes pulp healing, decreases treatment costs, and shortens treatment duration, which is a significant factor in treating noncooperative children. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare clinical and radiographic outcomes of partial and CP in vital carious-exposed permanent teeth.

Materials and methods

All vital permanent teeth with carious pulp exposure, treated by pulpotomy using mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) during 2017-2019, by two operators in one dental center, were included in the study. Around 118 permanent teeth in 97 children and adolescents (mean age 10.9 years) were evaluated 6-57 months postoperatively.

Results

The total success rates of CP and PP were 82.5 and 80.8%, respectively (p = nonsignificant). The only factor that significantly affected the success rate was the presence of preoperative periapical pathology. Teeth without such pathology showed an 87.3% success rate compared to 74.1 and 58.3% in teeth with preoperative enlarged periodontal ligament (PDL) or with periapical radiolucency, respectively (p = 0.0301). Demographic variables, maturation state of the tooth, type of tooth (incisor, premolar, molar), postoperative variables, such as the presence of radiographic dentinal bridge, partial or full obliteration of the pulp during the follow-up period, and the integrity of the final restoration during the recall examinations did not affect the success rate of the treatment.

Conclusion

Partial and CP in vital permanent teeth with carious pulp exposure in children and adolescents might be a reliable alternative to full root canal treatment (RCT).

How to cite this article

Yoshpe M, Kaufman AY, Lin S, et al. Clinical and Radiographic Outcomes of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate Pulpotomies in Vital Permanent Teeth with Carious Pulp Exposure: A Pioneering Retrospective Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2023;16(4):555-559.

Bioceramics in Endodontics: Updates and Future Perspectives

Bioceramics, with excellent bioactivity and biocompatibility, have been widely used in dentistry, particularly in endodontics. Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) is the most widely used bioceramic in endodontics. Recently, many new bioceramics have been developed, showing good potential for the treatment of endodontic diseases. This paper reviews the characteristics of bioceramics and their applications in various clinical endodontic situations, including root-end filling, root canal therapy, vital pulp therapy, apexification/regenerative endodontic treatment, perforation repair, and root defect repair. Relevant literature published from 1993 to 2023 was searched by keywords in PubMed and Web of Science. Current evidence supports the predictable outcome of MTA in the treatment of endodontic diseases. Although novel bioceramics such as Biodentine, EndoSequence, and calcium-enriched mixtures have shown promising clinical outcomes, more well-controlled clinical trials are still needed to provide high-level evidence for their application in endodontics. In addition, to better tackle the clinical challenges in endodontics, efforts are needed to improve the bioactivity of bioceramics, particularly to enhance their antimicrobial activity and mechanical properties and reduce their setting time and solubility.

The Understanding of Vital Pulp Therapy in Permanent Teeth: A New Perspective

The indications of vital pulp therapy (VPT) are expanding, which cases are suitable for VPT, and how to improve the success rate of VPT is a problem that often bothers us. The main purpose of VPT is to eliminate pulpitis by promoting the formation of reparative dentin or calcium bridge, so that it can continue to perform various physiological functions, and finally achieve the purpose of preserving pulp vitality and long-term preservation of affected teeth. Pulp capping and pulpotomy are the most common methods for VPT. The research field of VPT has attracted the attention of many scholars, who have studied it from many aspects (such as indications, material selection, operation requirements, and long-term prognosis). This article reviews the recent advances in the techniques of VPT in permanent teeth.

Vital Pulp Therapy of Permanent Teeth with Reversible or Irreversible Pulpitis: An Overview of the Literature

Vital pulp therapy (VPT) has been recently proposed as an alternative approach even in symptomatic mature permanent teeth with deep caries’ lesions, aiming to maintain the pulp vitality over time and/or to avoid non-surgical root canal therapy (NSRCT). However, to date, the diagnosis of reversible or irreversible pulpitis is only based on clinical pain quantity and quality, without precisely reflecting the pulp inflammation status. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to provide an overview based on the current scientific literature to demonstrate the clinical effectiveness of VPT on mature permanent teeth, validating the use of hydraulic calcium silicate-based cements and their role in pain management. VPT may be successfully applied not only in mature permanent teeth diagnosed with reversible pulpitis, but also in permanent dental elements with signs and symptoms of irreversible pulpitis. Hydraulic cements showed favorable outcomes in terms of decrease of pro-inflammatory mediators and of post-operative pain. Pain plays a central role in the chance to perform VPT in mature permanent teeth, since it may be considered as a pre-operative diagnostic criterion as well as a treatment success parameter. In addition, proper assessment of pulp inflammation and choice of appropriate materials are key factors in enhancing VPT success.

A critical analysis of research methods and experimental models to study pulpitis

Pulpitis is the inflammatory response of the dental pulp to a tooth insult, whether it is microbial, chemical, or physical in origin. It is traditionally referred to as reversible or irreversible, a classification for therapeutic purposes that determines the capability of the pulp to heal. Recently, new knowledge about dental pulp physiopathology led to orientate therapeutics towards more frequent preservation of pulp vitality. However, full adoption of these vital pulp therapies by dental practitioners will be achieved only following better understanding of cell and tissue mechanisms involved in pulpitis. The current narrative review aimed to discuss the contribution of the most significant experimental models developed to study pulpitis. Traditionally, in vitro two(2D)- or three(3D)-dimensional cell cultures or in vivo animal models were used to analyse the pulp response to pulpitis inducers at cell, tissue or organ level. In vitro 2D cell cultures were mainly used to decipher the specific roles of key actors of pulp inflammation such as bacterial by-products, pro-inflammatory cytokines, odontoblasts or pulp stem cells. However, these simple models did not reproduce the 3D organisation of the pulp tissue and, with rare exceptions, did not consider interactions between resident cell types. In vitro tissue/organ-based models were developed to better reflect the complexity of the pulp structure. Their major disadvantage is that they did not allow the analysis of blood supply and innervation participation. On the contrary, in vivo models have allowed researchers to identify key immune, vascular and nervous actors of pulpitis and to understand their function and interplay in the inflamed pulp. However, inflammation was mainly induced by iatrogenic dentine drilling associated with simple pulp exposure to the oral environment or stimulation by individual bacterial by-products for short periods. Clearly, these models did not reflect the long and progressive development of dental caries. Lastly, the substantial diversity of the existing models makes experimental data extrapolation to the clinical situation complicated. Therefore, improvement in the design and standardization of future models, for example by using novel molecular biomarkers, databased models and artificial intelligence, will be an essential step in building an incremental knowledge of pulpitis in the future.

Local Drug Delivery Systems for Vital Pulp Therapy: A New Hope

Vital pulp therapy (VPT) is deliberated as an ultraconservative/minimally invasive approach for the conservation of vital pulpal tissues, preservation of dental structure, and maintenance of tooth function in the oral cavity. In VPT, following the exposure of the dental pulp, the environment is prepared for the possible healing and probable refunctionalisation of pulpal connective tissue. However, to succeed in VPT, specific biomaterials are used to cover and/or dress the exposed pulp, lower the inflammation, heal the dental pulp, provoke the remaining odontoblastic cells, and induce the formation of a hard tissue, i.e., the dentinal bridge. It can be assumed that if the employed biomaterial is transferred to the target site using a specially designed micro-/nanosized local drug delivery system (LDDS), the biomaterial would be placed in closer proximity to the connective tissue, may be released in a controlled and sustained pattern, could properly conserve the remaining dental pulp and might appropriately enhance hard-tissue formation. Furthermore, the loaded LDDS could help VPT modalities to be more ultraconservative and may minimise the manipulation of the tooth structure as well as pulpal tissue, which could, in turn, result in better VPT outcomes.