Abstract
Introduction: The aim of the present study was to clinically evaluate the influence of ozone on the vital pulp therapy (VPT) in human mature teeth. Vital pulp therapy – pulp capping helps to salvage caries-exposed pulp and prevent the need for further endodontic treatment. There are in vitro and in vivo studies using extracted teeth that indicate that Biodentine is an interesting alternative to mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). It is believed that unfavourable outcomes of VPT are caused by infection, either due to residual bacteria in the carious cavity or caused by bacterial microleakage. Ozone is a strong oxidant with a beneficial antimicrobial effect.
Materials and methods: Ninety-one teeth were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. Forty-one teeth were treated with ozone and Biodentine (O3 & B) – the experimental group and 50 teeth were treated with Biodentine only (B) – the control group. Clinical evaluations were performed at 3, 6, and 12 months after direct pulp capping.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference in success rates between the 2 groups. However, the success rates in both groups were high, ranging from 88.2% to 76.9% (p = 0.34) in the experimental and control groups, respectively.
Conclusions: Vitality pulp treatment with Biodentine combined with ozone and without ozone was found to be equivalent in terms of therapy efficacy. Biodentine was found to be a highly effective pulp capping material in VPT. There is a need for further in vivo studies to evaluate whether in vitro results of other studies translate to clinical practice.