| Abstract Scope |
Inflammation resulting from microbial incursion is destructive to dental pulp, often leaving root canal therapy or extraction as the only options. As an alternative, dentists may attempt to seal the pulp with a biocompatible material, placed under a restoration to encourage healing, a technique called pulp capping (PC). PC success rates vary, as material properties including long setting times, sub-optimal sealing ability, degradation, and poor biocompatibility lead to failure. To increase success of PC, a biocompatible cement composed of two glass compositions – sodium metasilicate and calcium phosphate – was developed. The effects of particle morphology have been examined via flame-spray microsphere fabrication. The material’s setting time, sealing ability, and in-vitro phase maturation were examined. The material performed favorably in each of these aspects. Seeded dental pulp cells adhered to and colonized the surface of spherical particles, indicating biocompatibility. This material shows promise as an easy-to-place, rapidly-curing, biocompatible PC material. |