Topical antibiotic treatment of infected dental pulps of monkeys

Abstract

A modified double-blind method of investigation was used in which the pulps of 52 monkey teeth were surgically exposed and left open to the oral environment for a period of 24 hours. One-half of the exposed pulps were treated with an antibiotic preparation and one-half with a pure starch control. The antibiotic compound consisted of erythromycin estolate 10 percent, streptomycin sulfate 10 percent, and starch q. s. as the vehicle. The teeth were extracted at 30 and 90 day intervals after treatment and histologically evaluated. Inflammation of a varying degree was observed in all of the teeth treated with either the antibiotic preparation or the starch control. However, those teeth treated with the antibiotic capping material exhibited much less inflammation than did the great majority of teeth treated with the starch control, in which abscess formation and necrosis were frequently observed. The pulps of those teeth treated with the antibiotic capping material demonstrated a decidedly more favorable reaction than did those pulps treated with the starch capping material. Calcific repair at the exposure site was not observed to be complete in any instance. The histologic findings for the antibiotic treated teeth were encouraging and warrant additional investigations of longer duration.