Abstract
Purpose: To compare the clinical success of different forms of vital pulp therapy using various pulp-capping materials.
Methods: Two independent researchers selected relevant articles from databases, extracted data, evaluated bias risk, and performed meta-analysis. Among 337 studies retrieved, 21 with a total of 1,816 participants and 1,948 treated permanent teeth were eligible and selected for 17 types of comparison. Meta-analysis was conducted for only six of these 17 comparisons.
Results: Among the six comparisons, the success of direct pulp capping with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) was significantly higher than that using calcium hydroxide (relative risk = 1.21, 95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.42, P = 0.03). There was no significant difference in the success of direct pulp capping between mineral trioxide aggregate and biodentine, nor between partial pulpotomy and full pulpotomy for either type of pulp capping material.
Conclusion: The use of MTA for direct pulp capping appears to yield significantly better clinical success than the use of calcium hydroxide.
