2.3. Clinical Methods
caries
STERILE, CARIES
After a comprehensive dental examination, the clinical procedures were carried out in two consecutive sessions. In the initial appointment, children got familiar with the dental environment, instruments, and procedures through the standardized “tell-show-do” method. Thereafter, the children received prophylaxis followed by professional topical fluoride therapy. The next session started with a brief initial communication to establish rapport with the child (using simple statements and questions). Then, a chief postgraduate student provided all dental treatments to all included subjects under the supervision of an experienced pediatric dentist. Treatment included prophylaxis, local anesthesia (2% lidocaine with 1/80,000 epinephrine), TheraCal and MTA pulpotomy (according to the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry), and SSC placement, respectively.Since the materials used in the study needed different manipulation techniques, the operator could not be blinded to the treatment. However, all other contributors were kept blinded to the groups and procedures. Anesthesia in all groups was performed using rubber dam isolation. The pulp chamber and vital pulp exposure were obtained after the removal of caries using a #330 high-speed bur with a water spray. Subsequently, the coronal pulp tissue was removed down to the canal perforations using a sterile slow-speed round bur (#6 or #8). Then, irrigation of the pulp chamber was performed using a light water flow followed by evacuation. A sterile cotton pellet soaked in sterile saline was then placed against the stumps of the pulp at the openings of the root canals for a few minutes [