Treatment of Calcium Hydroxide as an Intracanal Medication

Objective To evaluate and compare the efficacy of calciun hydroxide or formocresol as an intracanal medicament in root canal therapy of periapical periodontitis teeth.Methods A randomized study of intracanal placement of calcium hydroxide paste as a therapy for teeth with periapical periodontitis was performed. 244 teeth with periapical periodontitis were randomly allocated to either the formocresol group (F) or the calcium hydroxide group (C). After the root canals were hand instrumented ,they were given intracanal placement of calcium hydroxide glycerin paste by using sprial filler or formocresol by using absorbent paper points,replaced the intracanal medicament or filled the root canal if signs and symptoms were disapeared after a 1 week period.The effects and microbiologic test performance were investigated. Results Statistically significant differences between calcium hydroxide and formocresol was found.Sixty seven point seven percent (84/124) of teeth treated with calcium hydroxide and forty percent (48/120) treated with formocresol were obturated at the second visit(chi squaretest P 0.01 ).Incidence of post operative pain after using formocresol was eight point three percent (10/120) ,post operative pain were absent in group(C)( P 0.05 ). A significant correlation between microbiologic test performance and clinical efficacy was observed.Conclusion This investigation confirms that calcium hydroxide paste was superior to formocresol as an intracanal medicament in root canal therapy of periapical periodontitis teeth.