Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate pulpal responses and β-catenin expression following direct pulp capping of mechanically exposed teeth with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), bioaggregate (BA) and stem cells (BM-MSCs) in dog teeth.
Methods: Six healthy male mongrel dogs, aged between 2.5 and 3.5 years of age, were used for the present experimental work. Permanent mandibular molars and premolars were selected as the most suitable teeth. Teeth were divided into three groups according to the capping materials. Occlusal pulp exposures were performed. The pulp exposures in each dog were randomly capped in pairs according to the manufacturer instructions with MTA( group I), Bioaggregate (group II) and Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (group III), where MTA was used as the control and placed in a single pair of teeth. The cavities were restored with zinc oxide-eugenol and amalgam. The pulpal tissue responses to the tested materials were assessed postoperatively after sacrificing the dogs after 30 days. Real Time PCR for quantitative expression of β-catenin was used. One Way ANOVA was used to compare between the tested materials followed by Tukey's Post Hoc test for pairwise comparison.
Results: Group III showed the highest expression of β-catenin protein (5.63±0.09) followed by group II (3.42±0.17) followed by group I (2.34±0.16) at p≤0.001.
Conclusion: Dentinogenesis process was most active in group III (BM-MSCs) in comparison to both group I (MTA) and group II(BA) groups.