Researchers from the Department of Pedodontics, SRM Dental College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India recently conducted a study which revealed that Aloe barbadensis gel and Allium sativum oil may be used as an alternative to formocresol as pulpotomy medicaments.
The study is published in the International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry.
Pulpotomyy is a procedure which involves complete amputation of the coronal pulp, followed by employment of an appropriate medicament that will stimulate healing and preserve the vitality of the tooth. This is the choice of treatment for cariously exposed vital primary molars, with formocresol considered as golden standard. Despite the high success rate, the use of formocresol has raised various concerns that include its mutagenic, carcinogenic, and allergenic potentials.
However, controversies surrounding this medicament have generated inquisitiveness to exploration for natural alternatives. Given the side effects of formocresol as a common substance in dental pulpotomy, its substitution with a safe substance seems mandatory. Also, the use of natural products in dentistry has been a recent trend.
Hence, Kumar Abirami and colleagues carried out this study to clinically and radiographically evaluate the efficacy of formocresol, Allium sativum oil, and Aloe barbadensis gel as pulpotomy medicaments in primary molars.
The authors included eighty-two primary molars indicated for pulpotomy. The molars included were divided into three groups by simple random sampling, and treatment was done with formocresol as control, comparing it with Aloe barbadensis gel and Allium sativum oil.
The teeth were then followed up for 6 and 12 months clinically and radiographically. Chi-square test was used to compare the clinical and radiographic results between the groups. McNemar test was used to compare the clinical and radiographic results at 6 and 12 months.
The study showed that there was no significant difference between the groups when comparing the experimental groups to the control.
Therefore, the authors further concluded that "Aloe barbadensis gel and Allium sativum oil may be used as an alternative to formocresol as pulpotomy medicaments."