Endodontic treatment of primary molars is a great challenge to the dentists because of their complex morphology.
However, there have been limited controlled in vivo studies about filling materials for primary teeth. Hence, the aim of
this study is to evaluate and compare histologic responses of different calcium hydroxide canal filling materials that are
used in daily clinical practice.
Pulpectomies were performed in 132 teeth of the dogs. The root canals were randomly filled with either Vitapex® (n =
44), Metapex® (n = 44), or Metapaste® (n = 44). After 4 or 13 weeks, respectively after operation, the dogs were sacrificed,
and teeth were processed for histologic examinations. Inflammatory reaction was evaluated and scored in a blind
manner. The Fisher’s exact test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the tested groups.
In 4-week-group, all inflammatory responses were in normal range except for fibrosis. In 13-week-group, increased
response to various inflammation reaction was shown compared to the 4-week-group. However, there were no statically
significant differences between the tested groups in all inflammatory reaction.
Overall, there were no significant differences among three materials in responses of apical tissues and all of them
showed favorable tissue responses.