MTA in Vital Pulp Therapy

This chapter helps in understanding the basic concept and premise for vital pulp therapy. Many materials, medicaments, and methods have been used historically to treat and protect an exposed pulp. A short list of these agents includes formocresol, ferric sulfate, electrocautery, tricalcium phosphate, and calcium hydroxide (CH). The chapter reviews direct pulp capping with CH first to better understand the desirable properties and some disadvantages of this universally accepted pulp capping agent. The introduction of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) as a pulp capping material in modern dentistry has transformed treatment outcomes in direct pulp capping from a procedure previously considered unpredictable and often avoided. MTA has been used as a dressing in pulp capping and pulpotomy procedures in both primary and permanent teeth. It appears that MTA direct pulp capping can be a valuable method for preserving pulp vitality in selected cases where the diagnosis is reversible pulpitis.