Introduction: This study was performed to evaluate the clinical and radiographic effectiveness of TheraCal light cured (LC) comparison to mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and calcium hydroxide in direct pulp capping of primary molars over a period of 9 months.
Materials and methods: A total of 90 primary molars from children aged between 5 and 8 years were included in this randomized clinical study based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and were randomly divided into three groups—group I, TheraCal LC; group II, MTA; and group III, calcium hydroxide. Direct pulp capping (DPC) was performed in noncontaminated pulpal exposure with hemostasis achieved within 2–3 minutes followed by restoring the tooth using glass ionomer cement (GIC). Subjects were followed up at 3, 6, and 9 months for clinical and radiographic evaluations.
Results: At 9 months of follow-up, the overall success rate of direct pulp capping in groups I, II, and III were 60%, 72.41%, and 48.14%, respectively. Intergroup comparison showed nonsignificant differences (p >0.05).
Conclusion: The outcomes of this study suggest the limited success of direct pulp capping in primary molars. However, among the three materials used in this study, MTA comparatively had better results.
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