Effect of mineral trioxide aggregate on proliferation of cultured human dental pulp cells

Aim To investigate the effect of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) on the proliferation of human dental pulp (HDP) cells ex-vivo. Methodology Human dental pulp cells were cultured with MTA or calcium hydroxide-containing cement (Dycal) using culture plate inserts. Control cells were cultured with culture plate inserts only. Cell proliferation was measured for up to 14 days using a Cell Counting kit, and the concentration of calcium ions released from the tested materials was assessed using a Calcium E-test kit. To confirm that the effect of MTA was attributable to released calcium ions, cell proliferation was measured in the presence of exogenous calcium chloride as a source of calcium ions while in the absence of MTA. Results Mineral trioxide aggregate significantly stimulated cell proliferation after 12 days, whereas Dycal had no such effect. The number of calcium ions released from MTA was significantly higher than that released from Dycal. Following the addition of calcium chloride, cell proliferation increased in a dose-dependent manner after 12 days. Moreover, cell proliferation showed a similar pattern whether a given concentration of calcium ions was produced by calcium chloride or by release from MTA. Conclusions In this ex-vivo study, the elution components such as calcium ions from MTA had higher proliferation ability of HDP cells than control and Dycal.