Clinical evaluation of diluted formocresol pulpotomies in primary teeth of school children.

The present investigation was undertaken to clinically and radiograplu’caily observe human p~mary teeth after pulpotomy using one-fifth dilution of formocresol. Seventyseven teeth of 59 ctuTdren, average age seven years, were treated. Seventy teeth were available for follow-up over a peHod varying from 4 to 36 months. The degree of root resorption was evaiuated comparing pairs of treated and homologous non-pulpotomized teeth. Only four teeth had to be extracted, two of them due to furcation radiolucency, one due to a pe~iapical lesion, and one due to internai resorption. Forty-one pairs were available for root resorption analysis: 19 had a similar resorption rate, 16 treated teeth resorbed faster, and 6 resorbed slower than their controls.