Is Bioactive Glass an Effective Agent in Pulp-capping Treatments?: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial with One-year Follow-up

Indirect pulp-capping treatment is a procedure applied to teeth with deep and close-to-pulp caries lesions and without pulp degeneration symptoms. This study aimed to explore the use of a material containing bioactive glass for indirect pulp capping in primary and permanent teeth. The study included 145 patients, aged 4-15 years, without any systemic disease and 100 primary second molars and 100 permanent first molars in total. Four material groups were determined: calcium hydroxide (Dycal-DC group), glass ionomer (Biner LC-BC group), calcium silicate (TheraCal LC-TC group), and Bioactive glass-containing ACTIVA BioACTIVE-AC group. Clinical and radiographic evaluations were made 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after the treatment. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using the Chi-square test. During the 12-month follow-up period, the DC and TC groups were more successful clinically (94%), while the DC and AC groups were found to be more successful radiographically (94%). However, no statistically significant difference was found between the groups ( > 0.05). The results of this study supported the view that the success of indirect pulp-capping treatments was independent of the material used. This study demonstrated that a material containing bioactive glass, ACTIVA BioACTIVE-Base/Liner, can be used safely in indirect pulp-capping processes.