One of my favorite things to teach in my online course “E-school” is MTA Vital Pulp Therapy.  I believe that every dentist should know how to do this. It is such a service for your patients!  It works really well on pediatric patients, but did you know that it can work for your adult patients, too?

Here is a classic example of when MTA Vital Pulp Therapy works best….

This patient is young, 12 years old, and has decay into the pulp and has no real symptoms.  Her tooth responded normal to cold with no lingering pain and had no pain to percussion. To me, this is the ideal patient for MTA.  A root canal is the last thing I want to do because I want to keep that pulp alive. Why? Do you remember from taking the National Boards…

Q: What is the function of the pulp?
A: To lay down dentin.

The pulp is responsible for forming the root and completing the closure of those apices, so keep it alive!

I got her numb and removed the temporary filling and right underneath, the pulp was exposed.

I obtained hemostasis with a cotton pellet soaked in sodium hypochlorite and placed my MTA right on top of the pulp.

I covered the MTA with Vitrebond (you can use TheraCal, too, whatever you’ve got).

Then restore as usual and take a final radiograph like you see here…

For me, follow up is key for cases like these.  So she just came back for her 1 month check up…

Now, I know that I am not going to see much change in the root, but I want to make sure that she doesn’t have any symptoms.  She still felt cold, which I want, and she has no pain to functioning. Next stop, her 6 month recall. At that time, I hope to see more root formation and a vital pulp.  I promise to keep you posted!!

If you want to learn more about MTA Vital Pulp Therapy and how to incorporate it into your practice, sign up for E-school where I go over it in great detail so you can provide this procedure successfully in your practice.  It is so easy to do!!

Talk soon,

Sonia