Odontoblastic Differentiation, Inflammatory Response, and Angiogenic Potential of 4 Calcium Silicate–based Cements: Micromega MTA, ProRoot MTA, RetroMTA, and Experimental Calcium Silicate Cement

• All calcium silicate–based cements showed favorable differentiation and angiogenic potential in human dental pulp cells.
• ProRoot MTA, MicroMega MTA, and experimental calcium silicate cement showed superior odontoblastic differentiation and in vitro angiogenesis than Retro MTA.
• There is no difference of inflammatory mediators among calcium silicate–based cements.

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to analyze the effects of different calcium silicate–based cements (CSCs) for pulp capping materials including MicroMega MTA (MMTA; MicroMega, Besanchon, France), RetroMTA (RMTA; BioMTA, Seoul, Korea), ProRoot MTA (PMTA; Dentsply, Tulsa, OK), and experimental CSC (ECSC) on odontoblastic differentiation, in vitro angiogenesis, and the inflammatory response in human dental pulp cells.MethodsDifferentiation was evaluated by alkaline phosphatase activity, alizarin red staining, and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the marker genes. The levels of inflammatory mediators and cytokines were measured by RT-PCR and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In vitro angiogenesis was assessed by RT-PCR for angiogenic genes and an endothelial tube formation assay.ResultsPMTA, MMTA, and ECSC increased the alkaline phosphatase activity and mineralization nodule formation and up-regulated messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of odontoblastic markers compared with RMTA. In addition, PMTA, MMTA, and ECSC up-regulated the mRNA of angiogenic genes in human dental pulp cells and increased the capillary tube formation of endothelial cells compared with RMTA. However, all CSCs showed similar expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 protein as well as proinflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 mRNA.ConclusionsTaken together, our experimental results suggest that all CSCs are favorable materials for pulp capping, but PMTA, MMTA, and ECSC may be recommended over RMTA.