Treatment of deep carious lesions with mineral trioxide aggregate: clinical case report

Introduction. Deep carious lesions are a dental disease widely spread among population of all ages. From clinical point of view, they have little symptoms and go unnoticed by the patients a long time, until they provoke dental pulp inflammations. If diagnosed and treated properly, the tooth can be treated conservatively with certain techniques of pulp vitality preservation. An important role in this process plays the innate capacity of regeneration of the pulp-dentine complex and the enhanced stimulating properties of new biomaterials used in dentistry. The aim of this clinical case report is to describe the clinical manifestations and the diagnostic algorithm used in deep caries and to establish a clinical guideline of treatment of deep carious lesion with a calcium silicate hydraulic cement. Material and methods. Description of clinical case of a permanent tooth with a deep carious lesion, treated by indirect pulp capping with mineral trioxide aggregate cement. Clinical and paraclinical methods of investigations were used, the patient was evaluated after 6 and 12 months after the received treatment. Results. The sensitivity to cold stimuli presented by the patient before the treatment attenuated shortly after he received dental care. After 6 and 12 months, the tooth is asymptomatic, the clinical findings and paraclinical parameters show no evidence of pulp inflammation. Conclusions. Mineral trioxide aggregate showed long term successful results when used as a biomaterial for vital pulp therapy.