| Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) is an effective material for endodontic therapy. However, due to its long setting time and dentinal/gingival discoloration, its use is limited. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that a new biomimetic cement, GEMOSIL, has physical/biological properties comparable to MTA in endodontic therapy.;Samples of GEMOSIL were used to measure compressive and biaxial flexure strength with an Instron machine. GEMOSIL and MTA were placed in pulp chambers of extracted human teeth for discoloration testing. GEMOSIL and MTA were spin coated to 35 mm culture dishes, which were then seeded with pulp cells for viability testing. Zones of inhibition against S. Mutans and E. Faecalis were measured with both materials. GEMOSIL and MTA were also placed as a root-end filling material in rat incisors to assess biocompatibility with living tissues.;The compressive strength of GEMOSIL reached 28 MPa after 2 hours of immersion in PBS and 93 MPa after fully dried. Flexure strength ultimately reached 59 MPa. GEMOSIL demonstrated less discoloration when placed in pulp chambers of extracted teeth than MTA (p<0.05). GEMOSIL presented no cytotoxicity and promoted significantly more proliferation than MTA when in contact with pulp cells (p<0.05). S. Mutans was susceptible to both GEMOSIL and MTA, but E. Faecalis was only susceptible to GEMOSILCHX. Both materials showed biocompatibility as a retro-grade filling material in rats (p>0.05). In conclusion, GEMOSIL has similar or better physical and biological properties as compared to MTA; thus GEMOSIL has potential to be a viable endodontic cement. |
