PULP CAPPING WITH BIOGLASS(R) AND AUTOLOGOUS DEMINERALIZED DENTIN IN MINIATURE SWINE

The purpose of this study was to compare the responses of mechanically exposed dental pulps which had been capped with three dissimilar materials: a bioactive ceramic (Bioglass(R)), autologous demineralized dentin matrix (DDM), and a calcium hydroxide product (Life(R)), with Teflon(R) discs as controls. Mechanical dental pulp exposures were made after preparation of deep buccal Class V cavities in 48 teeth in four miniature swine. The exposures were capped and the cavity preparations restored with zinc oxide-eugenol (IRM) cement. The animals were killed after 90 days, the coronal 2/3 of the teeth removed, and sections prepared for either histological or microradiographic examination. The pulpal inflammatory reactions and the degree of reparative dentin formation were assessed from demineralized serial sections. A qualitative assessment of the degree of mineralization of the reparative dentin was made from microradiographs of undecalcified sections. The observations suggest that reparative dentin formation occurs under a variety of pulp-capping materials, but the structure of the reparative dentin varies with the material and the condition of the underlying pulp.