Clinical and radiographic evaluation of biodentine versus calcium hydroxide in primary teeth pulpotomies: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND Pulpotomy is the surgical removal of the entire coronal pulp with preservation of the radicular pulp vitality. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic success of pulpotomy of primary molars using two materials, biodentine and calcium hydroxide. METHODS Records of 400 primary molars in 360 paediatric participants (mean age: 7.5 ± 1.6 years, ranging from 5 to 9 years) with dental caries who required pulp therapy were included in this study. Biodentine was used on 200 teeth, and calcium hydroxide (CH) was used on another 200 teeth, as a pulpotomy material. Clinical and radiographic evaluation was performed after 9 and 18 months. Statistical analysis was evaluated with the chi-squared test, and the level of significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS The treatment success with CH was 85.5% after 9 months and 79.5% after 18 months, while the success rate of biodentine was 94% after 9 months and 89.5% after 18 months. The statistical analysis with the Chi-squared test showed that the clinical and radiographic success rate with biodentine was significantly higher than CH (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Biodentine exhibited a higher clinical and radiographic success rate compared to CH. However, besides the clinical results, biodentine has some disadvantages, such as higher costs, compared to CH.