Histopathologic Responses of the Dental Pulp to Calcium- Enriched Mixture (CEM) and Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA) in Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Rats

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Zahra Sadat Madani 1
Azam Haddadi 2
Abbas Mesgarani 3
Maryam Seyedmajidi 1
Amrollah Mostafazadeh 4
Ali Bijani 5
Manouchehr Ashraphpour 6
1 Dental Materials Research Center Dental School, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
2 Dental School, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
3 Dental School, Babol University of Medical Sciences Babol, Iran
4 Cellular& Molecular Biology Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
5 Non–Communicable Pediatric Diseases Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
6 Department of pharmacology and Neurosciences, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Abstract
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease which affects the healing ability of the pulp and periodontium. The aim of
the present study was to assess the histopathologic response of dental pulp to pulp capping using MTA or CEM
cement in diabetic rats. Thirty two Wistar male rats aged between 8 and 10 weeks (weight: 200-250g) were
divided into two groups of diabetic (n=16) and healthy (n=16) animals and then subdivided into MTA and CEM
subgroups. In each group, 10 MTA treated, 10 CEM treated and 12 intact (without any intervention) teeth were
analyzed. Intact teeth were considered as a baseline inflammation control. Then, class I cavity was made in the
maxillary first molars teeth with pinpoint pulpal exposure. Either MTA or CEM cement was then placed over
exposed pulp as pulp capping agent and the cavities were restored using resin- modified glass ionomer cement.
Both teeth of rats in subgroups remained intact without any intervention. After four weeks, the rats were
sacrificed and the teeth were subjected to histological evaluation in terms of inflammation intensity, dentin
bridge formation and dentin bridge continuity. The CEM cement treated diabetic rats exhibited a significant
higher inflammatory response when compared to healthy control group (P=0.004) whereas, MTA treated
diabetic rats did not exhibit a significant higher inflammatory response in comparison to healthy controls. There
was no significant difference between MTA and CEM cement in the induction of dentin bridge formation in
diabetic and healthy controls. This preliminary study suggests that MTA is a superior dental material than CEM
cement for pulp therapy in subjects with diabetes.
Keywords
Diabetes
direct pulp capping
CEM cement
MTA