Response of intra canal medicaments on viability and survival of SHEDs.

Background: Regenerative endodontic procedures (REP) rely on the principles of tissue engineering and take advantage of the regenerative abilities of Stem Cells derived from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHEDs). Since REPs advise the minimal instrumentation of root canals, they are more dependent on intracanal medicaments with antimicrobial activity to provide a sterile environment for pulpal regeneration. Hence present trial was conducted to examine the influence of different intracanal medicaments on SHEDs proliferation and survival.

Study Design: SHEDs were cultured by using the long-term explant culture method and characterized using flow cytometry and exposed to different concentrations of calcium hydroxide, doxycycline, potassium iodide, triamcinolone, and glutaraldehyde. SHEDs were subjected to the 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol -2 -yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H- tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, apoptosis using the Annexin V-binding assay and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activity.

Results: All medicaments significantly reduced cell viability at different concentrations over different exposure times. Highest number of live cells and ALP activity was observed in SHEDs cultured in calcium hydroxide.

Conclusion: Potassium iodide and glutaraldehyde were the significantly less likely of all the medications examined to adversely affect the viability and survival of SHEDs.