Clinical and Radiographic Evaluation of the Success of Resin-Modified Calcium Silicate in Primary Tooth Pulpotomy

Tooth decay is a complex process of enamel demineralization and remineralization caused by organic acids produced by microorganisms in the dental plaque. When this balance shifts in favor of demineralization, caries formation occurs. Initially, decay begins with small surface roughness or subsurface demineralization, followed by cavitation and subsequent pulp involvement.

Tooth decay, one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood, negatively impacts the quality of life when left untreated, leading to problems such as pain, abscess formation, tooth loss, nutritional deficiencies, and speech disorders. To prevent early loss of primary teeth and maintain the health of the oral and surrounding tissues, restorative or endodontic treatments are applied. Treatment methods for deep dentin caries in primary teeth include indirect pulp capping, direct pulp capping, and amputation, with amputation being the most commonly used vital pulp therapy. Amputation is indicated when the pulp is either healthy or reversibly damaged and shows no signs of pulp degeneration, and the pulp becomes exposed during caries removal due to decay or mechanical causes. The goal of treatment is to preserve the vitality of the radicular pulp, control pain and inflammation, and maintain the tooth until its physiological exfoliation time. The selection of appropriate materials and techniques for amputation therapy is of critical importance. Although several studies have investigated the success of amputation materials and techniques, the ideal amputation material has not yet been defined. The ideal material and technique should be bactericidal, harmless to the pulp and surrounding tissues, support the healing of the root pulp, and contribute to the preservation of remaining tissues without affecting physiological root resorption. Additionally, factors such as cost and ease of application should also be considered in material selection. Therefore, efforts to identify the ideal amputation material continue.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical and radiographic success of Theracal PT®, ProRoot® MTA, and Neoputty® MTA, and to examine the relationship between these outcomes and factors such as age, gender, the position of the tooth in the arch, and the presence of provoked pain prior to treatment.

The following hypotheses were proposed in our study:

Hypothesis 1: There is no difference in the 12-month clinical and radiographic success rates of primary tooth amputation treatments performed using Neoputty® MTA, ProRoot® MTA, and Theracal PT®.