Pulpal and periapical response of dogs' teeth after pulpotomy and use of enamel matrix derivative as a capping agent

Objective: To evaluate the pulpal and periapical response of dogs’ teeth after pulpotomy and use of Enamel Matrix Derivative (EMD) as capping agent. Methods: Pulpotomy was performed in 40 teeth from 4 dogs and the remaining pulp tissue was recovered with the following materials: Groups I and IV: EMD (Emdogain®); Groups II and V: calcium hydroxide; Groups III and VI: zinc oxide and eugenol cement. After 7 days (Groups I, II, and III) and 70 days (Groups IV, V, and VI), the animals were euthanized and the teeth were removed and processed for histological analysis; were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn test or Mann Whitney test ( =0.05). Results: 7-day period: in Group I, it was observed a mild to moderate inflammatory infiltrate and intense vascular proliferation while Group II presented a mild inflammatory infiltrate and an intact pulp tissue (p 0.05). In Group V, there was dentin bridge formation, absence of inflammation and absence of mineralized tissue resorption (p < 0.05). Conclusion: EMD as a capping material after pulpotomy did not show either satisfactory tissue response or capacity of inducing deposition of mineralized tissue in dental pulp.