Question · asked by 1 review
Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) vs Calcium hydroxide (CH): Postoperative pain (patient-reported)
- Population
- Vital permanent teeth (mature or immature) with deep or extremely deep caries and asymptomatic pulp or reversible pulpitis, undergoing direct pulp capping
- Intervention
- Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA)
- Comparison
- Calcium hydroxide (CH)
- Outcome
- Postoperative pain (patient-reported)
The effect of material choice (MTA vs CaOH) on postoperative pain is unclear: two small studies used different methods and reported contradictory results, so no meta-analysis was performed (ungraded).
What each review found
Include earlier review versions| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) vs Calcium hydroxide (CaOH) Postoperative pain (patient-reported) · Vital permanent teeth (mature or immature) with deep or extremely deep caries and asymptomatic pulp or reversible… · 6 hours to 7 days, Primary or secondary dental care The effect of material choice (MTA vs CaOH) on postoperative pain is unclear: two small studies used different methods and reported contradictory results, so no meta-analysis was performed (ungraded). Effectiveness of calcium hydroxide compared to hydraulic calcium silicate cements for direct pulp capping in… (2025) All outcomes | Two studies assessed postoperative pain; no meta-analysis was performed due to methodological heterogeneity. Suhag 2019: significantly higher pain in CaOH than MTA at 18 h (CaOH 18.5 +/- 20.8 mm vs MTA 6.3 +/- 9.5 mm,… | 2 studies | GRADE not reported |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effectiveness of calcium hydroxide compared to hydraulic calcium silicate cements for direct pulp capping in managing deep caries in vital… 2025 All outcomes | 2025-02-19 | 9 | High / Moderate |
How reviews are matched to this question
Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.