It is accepted that pulpotomy therapy is appropriate for the management of cariously exposed pulps in deciduous molars that are asymptomatic, but there is a lack of evidence regarding which pulpotomy technique is the most appropriate. A study by Huth, et al published in the Journal of Dental Research (Vol. 84, No. 12, 2005) compared the relative effectiveness of 4 pulpotomy techniques in terms of retaining the symptom-free status of deciduous molar teeth: (1) Er:YAG laser, (2) calcium hydroxide, (3) ferric sulfate, and (4) dilute formo-cresol. The study involved 200 primary molars in 107 healthy children, and the teeth were randomly allocated to one of the techniques. After pulpotomy treatment, the teeth were blindly re-evaluated after 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. After 24 months, clinical success rates were determined, and it was found that only calcium hydroxide performed significantly worse than formocresol (p = 0.001, odds ratio = 5.6, 95% confidence interval 2.0Ò15.5). The study concluded that calcium hydroxide is less appropriate for pulpotomies than formocresol.
(Source: Journal of Dental Research Web site; jdr.iadrjournals.org, accessed December 8, 2005).
