human pulp response to direct pulp capping and miniature pulpotomy with mta after application of topical dexamethasone: a randomized clinical trial

introduction: the aim of this randomized clinical trial was to compare the histologic pulp tissue response to one-step direct pulp capping (dpc) and miniature pulpotomy (mp) with mineral trioxide aggregate (mta) after application of dexamethasone in healthy human premolars. methods and materials: forty intact premolars from 10 orthodontic patients, were randomly chosen for dpc ( n =20) or mp ( n =20). in 10 teeth from each group, after exposure of the buccal pulp horn, topical dexamethasone was applied over the pulp. in all teeth the exposed/miniaturely resected pulp tissue was covered with mta and cavities were restored with glass ionomer. teeth vitality was evaluated during the next 7, 21, 42, and 60 days. signs and/or symptoms of irreversible pulpitis or pulp necrosis were considered as failure. according to the orthodontic schedule, after 60 days the teeth were extracted and submitted for histological examination. the kruskal-wallis and fisher’s exact tests were used for statistical analysis of the data ( p =0.05). results: although dexamethasone specimens showed less inflammation, calcified bridge, pulpal blood vasculature, collagen fibers and granulation tissue formation were not significantly different between the groups ( p >0.05). conclusion: topical dexamethasone did not hindered pulp healing but reduced the amount of underlying pulpal tissue inflammation after dpc and mp in healthy human premolars.