Histology of Irreversible Pulpitis Premolars Treated with Mineral Trioxide Aggregate Pulpotomy

Studies show that human permanent teeth with carious pulpal exposures can result in a high clinical success rate when treated with pulpotomy and direct pulp capping with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA pulpotomy). In this case report, a 19-year-old female patient with a second premolar with irreversible pulpitis and symptomatic apical periodontitis was treated with MTA pulpotomy. Follow-up electric pulp tests showed viability of the tooth at three and 10 months. Ten months after the initial treatment, the tooth was extracted for orthodontic reasons and processed for histological examination. Microscopically, the pulpal wound treated with MTA was free from inflammation and covered with a thin layer of reparative dentin. The authors conclude that, when caries and bacterial contamination can be removed from the dentin-pulp complex, the inflamed but vital pulp of a permanent tooth may have a chance to return to a healthy, functional status after MTA pulpotomy.