The current opinions and use of MTA for apical barrier formation of non‐vital immature permanent incisors by consultants in paediatric dentistry in the UK

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the current opinions and usage of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) for apical barrier formation of non-vital immature permanent teeth by consultants in paediatric dentistry in the UK. A semi-structured postal questionnaire was sent to all known consultants in paediatric dentistry in the UK. The response rate was 78.6% (44 of 56). Thity-eight consultants (86.3%) agreed that the use of this material was a good idea with 68.2% having used or arranged for its use in apical barrier formation. Forty-two consultants (95.5%) agreed that reduced number of visits was an advantage to the technique, with only 34.1% agreeing that this procedure was less likely to weaken the tooth and 63.6% agreed that material and equipment costs were a drawback and 50% agreed that lack of available evidence was a disadvantage to its use. The results from this study give an indication of the extent of MTA use by consultant-led services in paediatric dentistry in the UK and highlights the need for a multi-centre randomised controlled clinical trial.

Dental Material Choices for Pulp Therapy in Paediatric Dentistry

“…The literature often cites the high cost of MTA being a major barrier to its use in clinical practice despite a widely held view that for procedures such as direct pulp capping, it is the material of choice (6,(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). The mismatch between the evidence from the literature and the patterns of clinical practice suggests that there may be factors other than cost that influence the material selection by GD and PD.…”

Biocompatibility of Root Canal Filling Materials: Differences between Vitality and Functionality Tests

“…The differences in the oxidative burst stimulation allow to discriminate the action mechanisms of some xenobiotics: as a matter of fact, if a compound inhibits the activation stimulated by Zymosan but not by PMA, an alteration of linking molecules between RFc and kinases responsible for enzyme assembling is predictable (II, 22). (27,28). MTA has also been successfully used to repair root perforations and as a pulp capping agent (29).…”

Mineral Trioxide Aggregate: A review of clinical usage and investigations of the effects of modifying particle size

“…Although much literature from the UK, Europe and the USA describes the high cost of MTA as being the main barrier to its widespread clinical use, 5,7,10,295,296 the results of this study show that in the Australian context, the main factor that restricts the use of MTA is a lack of formal training in how to use the material appropriately. It is noteworthy that the majority of GD members of the ASE expressed a need to undertake hands-on training in the use of MTA.…”

“…7,295,296 despite a widely held view that for procedures such as DPC that it is the material of choice. [296][297][298] The mismatch between the evidence from the literature and the patterns of clinical practice suggests that there may be factors other than cost that influence the materials selection of GDs and PDs.…”

“…295 Since acidic environments are unfavourable for MTA placement, it is encouraging to see that for both perforation repairs and apexification cases, the most popular irrigant used was NaOCl, which is an alkaline agent. 310 The use of CHX as the final irrigant was less popular than EDTA and NaOCl, which could be due to findings by Ng et al that abstaining from CHX use improves periapical healing.…”