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Abstract
Introduction: The use of biocompatible materials like
mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) may improve the
prognosis of teeth with root perforations. Methods:
R oot perforations are artificial connections between the root canal system and the
periodontium and/or the oral cavity. They can be iatrogenic or noniatrogenic.
Examples of iatrogenic causes are incorrectly aligned trephination (mostly by high
The treatment outcome of root perforations repaired speed bur) or post perforations. Perforations can also occur while the root canal is
between 2000 and 2006 with MTA was investigated. being prepared. The main noniatrogenic causes are progressive resorption and caries.
Twenty-six patients received treatment with MTA in Sealing perforations of iatrogenic, resorptive, or carious origin poses a challenge
26 teeth with root perforations. Treatment was per- even for dentists with endodontic experience. The rationale of treatment of such cases
formed by supervised undergraduate students (29%), should be immediate sealing with a biocompatible material that is insoluble in the pres-
general dentists (52%), or dentists who had focused ence of tissue fluids (1) and allows regeneration of surrounding tissues (2).
on endodontics (19%). Perforation repair by all treat- The following materials have been recommended for sealing root perforations:
ment providers was performed using a dental operating Cavit (3), silver amalgam (4, 5), super EBA cement (6), calcium hydroxide (7),
microscope. Calibrated examiners assessed clinical and hydroxyapatite (8), calcium phosphate cement (9), light-cured glass ionomer (10),
radiographic outcome 12 to 65 months after treatment and decalcified freeze-dried bone (11). None of these perforation sealing materials
(median 33 months, 81% recall rate). Pre-, intra-, and is adequately biocompatible to ensure a good treatment outcome when it comes into
postoperative information relating to potential prog- direct contact with bone tissue. Inadequate biocompatibility of the sealing material
nostic factors was evaluated. Results: Of 21 teeth frequently causes problems when it comes into contact with the neighboring tissue,
examined, 18 teeth (86%) were classified as healed. especially when the perforation is large and there is an increased likelihood of the mate-
None of the analyzed potential prognostic factors had rial extruding into the surrounding tissue (12). Therefore, the prognosis for teeth with
a significant effect on the outcome. Conclusions: root perforations was considered very uncertain before the introduction of mineral
MTA appears to provide a biocompatible and long- trioxide aggregate (MTA) (13, 14). Many studies have documented the biocompatibility
term effective seal for root perforations in all parts of of MTA (15–18). In addition, its ability to set is not affected by the presence of body
the root. (J Endod 2010;36:208–213) fluids such as blood (19).
The biocompatibility of MTA, the ability of this material to seal root perforations
Key Words effectively (20, 21), and its setting properties in the presence of moisture and even
Mineral trioxide aggregate, perforation, repair blood are important characteristics that may result in greater success rates when
used for treating root perforations. Animal studies (22–24), case reports, and case
series are available on the successful use of MTA as a perforation sealing material
(25–30).
From the *Department of Conservative Dentistry and The number of cases in the clinical trials available to date is, however, rather small
†
Institute of Medical Biometry and Informatics, Ruprecht-
Karls-University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; and so it is important to collect further clinical data on the use of this material in the repair of
‡
Department of Adult Dental Care, University of Sheffield, Shef- root perforations. In Part II of this Heidelberg Study project for determining the success
field, United Kingdom. of MTA treatment, the outcome of 21 endodontically treated teeth with root perfora-
Address requests for reprints to Dr Johannes Mente, Univer- tions, which were repaired exclusively with MTA (ProRoot MTA, gray version; Dents-
sity Clinic Heidelberg, Department of Conservative Dentistry,
ply-Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland), are evaluated.
Division of Endodontics, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Hei-
delberg, Germany. E-mail address: johannes.mente@med.
uni-heidelberg.de.
0099-2399/$0 - see front matter Material and Methods
Copyright ª 2010 American Association of Endodontists. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Hei-
doi:10.1016/j.joen.2009.10.012 delberg (Ref. 132/2006). All patients who had a root perforation repaired with MTA in
the Department of Conservative Dentistry at the University Hospital of Heidelberg
between 2000 and 2006 were identified by use of recall data. MTA was available in
the Department of Conservative Dentistry at the University Hospital of Heidelberg
from the year 2000.
The retrospective cohort was assembled in accordance with the following inclu-
sion criteria: patients who had undergone root perforation repair using MTA at the
Department of Conservative Dentistry at the University Hospital of Heidelberg. The
interval between perforation repair and last follow-up examination had to be at least
JOE — Volume 36, Number 2, February 2010 Treatment Outcome of MTA in the Repair of Root Perforations 209
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Clinical Research
fillings were documented. If they did not agree, both examiners met to TABLE 1. Outcome Distribution across Preoperative Variables
discuss the radiographic findings and come to a consensus.
Teeth Healed
The outcome was assessed on the basis of clinical and radio-
graphic findings. All elicitation of clinical and radiographic findings p
in this study was undertaken by calibrated examiners (MK, JT, and Variable n % n % value*
TP), who themselves had not performed any of the perforation sealing Age 0.59
procedures and were therefore unbiased. A case was classified as #45 y 10 48 8 80
‘‘healed’’ when there was no indication of apical periodontitis (PAI >45 y 11 52 10 91
#2), no radiolucency adjacent to the perforation site, no continuing Sex 0.55
Female 9 43 7 78
root resorption, no clinical signs and symptoms, and no loss of func- Male 12 57 11 92
tion. Outcome was classified as ‘‘diseased’’ if one of the following find- Number of roots 0.53
ings was observed at the follow-up examination: clinical signs and 1 13 62 12 92
symptoms (such as sensitivity to percussion, sinus tract, longitudinal $2 8 38 6 75
fracture, loss of function, pain, or discomfort experienced by the patient Tooth type 1.00
Anterior 10 48 9 90
regarding the tooth with the repaired perforation), apical periodontitis Posterior 11 52 9 82
(PAI $3), radiolucency adjacent to the perforation site, or signs of Tooth location 1.00
continuing root resorption. Multirooted teeth were assessed according Maxilla 13 62 11 85
to the highest score given to any one of the roots. Mandible 8 38 7 87.5
Localisation of 1.00
perforation
Statistical Analysis Furcal 4 19 4 100
Crestal 7 33 6 86
Median, first and third quartile, minimum and maximum, and Midroot 5 24 4 80
relative and absolute frequencies were calculated for descriptive anal- Apical third 5 24 4 80
ysis. The Fisher exact test was performed to investigate the effect of of root
potential outcome predictors as shown in Tables 1 through 3. The Time between 1.00
data were processed by using the SAS statistical package (Version occurrence and repair
of perforation
9.1; SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC). Because of the exploratory nature of #1 d 6 29 5 83
the study, no adjustment was made for multiple testing. All tests were >1 d to 31d 5 24 4 80
performed at a significance level of 0.05. > 1 mo 10 48 9 90
Size of perforation 0.52
#1 mm 10 48 9 90
Results 1-3 mm 8 38 7 88
The details of clinical and radiographic calibration have been >3 mm 3 14 2 67
Signs and symptoms 1.00
described previously (31). There was a high level of consensus Absent 10 48 9 90
regarding the clinical findings performed by the two designated inves- Present 11 52 9 82
tigators. Pulp status 1.00
Intraexaminer reliability for the PAI calibration results was k = Responsive 3 14 3 100
Nonresponsive 18 86 15 83
0.77, indicating ‘‘substantial agreement’’ (33). The interexaminer Apical periodontitis 1.00
agreement (examiner scores vs. the calibration kit ‘authorized scores’) Absent 9 43 8 89
was k = 0.82, indicating ‘almost perfect agreement’ (33). Present 12 57 10 83
Thirty-four subjects (34 teeth) were initially identified for potential Overall 21 100 18 86
inclusion, eight of whom were excluded because the follow-up period Type of treatment 1.00
Initial treatment 13 62 11 85
was too short (follow-up of at least 1 year was one of the inclusion Retreatment 8 38 7 87.5
criteria). Twenty-six patients met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 21
patients took part in the follow-up study (recall rate 81%). Four of *Fisher exact test.
the perforations were in the furcation area (Fig. 1A-C), seven at crestal
bone level, five at the midroot level (Fig. 2), and five in the apical third of
the root (Fig. 3). ration). Interestingly, the healed rate for single-root teeth (12/13 teeth,
The reasons for drop out were recorded; three patients (11.5%) 92%) was higher than that for multirooted teeth (6/8 teeth, 75%). The
could not be reached despite repeated letter writing or telephone calls healed rate for teeth with larger perforations (size >3 mm) was less (2/
and two patients (7.5%) had moved away. Eighteen teeth (86%) could 3 teeth, 67%) than the healed rate for those with smaller perforations
be classified as healed and three (14%) as diseased. Two of the three (size 1-3 mm) (7/8 teeth, 88%) and very small perforations (size #1
diseased teeth were found to have a longitudinal root fracture. The third mm, 9/10 teeth [90%]). However, none of the differences observed was
tooth was extracted elsewhere 34 months after the endodontic treat- statistically significant.
ment.
The outcome in relation to the recorded pre-, intra-, and postop-
erative variables is shown in Tables 1 through 3. Minor differences in Discussion
the healed rate were observed for several variables, whereas larger All available patients at the Department of Conservative Dentistry at
differences ($15%) were noted for four preoperative variables the University Hospital of Heidelberg who had undergone endodontic
(number of roots, localization of perforation, size of perforation, and treatment with repair of root perforations using MTA and who fulfilled
pulp status), three intraoperative variables (root filling technique, treat- the inclusion criteria were considered for this study. Twenty-six patients
ment sessions, and experience of the treatment providers), and two who had undergone endodontic treatment with perforation repair
postoperative variables (quality of coronal restoration and type of resto- between 2000 and 2006 were identified. Twenty-one of these patients
were available for recall; thus, the recall rate was 81%. The recall rate assessment of the periapical situation (34). Despite this, when designing
should be $80% in order to obtain significant interpretations of find- future clinical studies, consideration should be given to whether
ings (34). advanced three-dimensional imaging methods (such as cone-beam
Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) was used as perforation repair computed tomography scans) could be used instead of two-dimensional
material in all cases. As described by other authors (30), in cases of images for radiograph diagnosis of the periapical region and the perfo-
excessive hemorrhaging, calcium hydroxide was placed in the perfora- ration site. In a cross-sectional study, Estrela et al. (36) clearly showed
tion site for a few days so that the perforation repair using MTA could be the superiority of the cone-beam technology compared with the periap-
performed under ‘‘ideal’’ conditions. ical radiograph in the diagnosis of apical periodontitis.
All investigation criteria and the documentation of the study data Because the PAI index is unsuitable for assessing the region adja-
were established with standardized protocols before the start of the cent to the perforation site, in the present study two independent exam-
follow-up examinations. Both clinical and radiographic evaluations iners also assessed the radiographs of the perforation site in addition to
were performed after the examiners had been calibrated. Examiners of the PAI assessment. Only when all radiographic and clinical findings at
follow-up examinations and radiographs should not be identical with the recall examinations were normal (PAI #2, no radiolucency adja-
the providers of treatment because their interpretation may be biased cent to the perforation site, no continuing root resorption, and no clin-
toward a more favorable assessment (34, 35). The PAI index used in ical signs or symptoms and no loss of function) was a case classified as
the present study (32) is a validated, reproducible method for unbiased ‘‘healed.’’
Figure 1. (A) A radiograph of a maxillary first molar with large perforation of furcation area (almost the entire pulp chamber floor is affected). (B) A follow-up
radiograph after 5 years (see Fig. 1A). The outcome is classified as healed. The MTA cement has extensive contact with the bone tissue. (C) A photograph of
perforation repair with MTA (clinical picture corresponding to 1A and B). The perforation covers the entire floor of the pulp chamber.
JOE — Volume 36, Number 2, February 2010 Treatment Outcome of MTA in the Repair of Root Perforations 211
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Clinical Research
JOE — Volume 36, Number 2, February 2010 Treatment Outcome of MTA in the Repair of Root Perforations 213
Downloaded for Anonymous User (n/a) at Royal College of Surgeons of England from ClinicalKey.com by Elsevier on May 26, 2020.
For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright ©2020. Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.