ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Dent. Med.
Sec. Endodontics
This article is part of the Research TopicEndodontic Materials at the Cutting Edge: Innovation, Evidence, and Ongoing DebatesView all articles
Comparative Evaluation of the Physicochemical and Biological Properties of Calcium Silicate-Based Pulp Capping Materials
Provisionally accepted
Juan Carlos Hernández Cabanillas1
Louis Hardan2
Carlos Enrique Cuevas-Suárez3*Iván Olivares Acosta1
Anh Tuan DANG4Vincenzo Tosco5
Naji Kharouf6
Monika Magdalena Lukomska-Szymanska7Youssef Haikel8*
Rim Bourgi6- 1Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud Valle de las Palmas, Tijuana, Mexico
- 2Universite Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, Beirut, Lebanon
- 3Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Mexico
- 4Hai Phong University, Haiphong, Vietnam
- 5Universita Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
- 6Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
- 7Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lodzi, Łódź, Poland
- 8Universite de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
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Background: Understanding the performance of calcium silicate-based pulp capping ma-terials is essential for clinicians seeking to preserve pulp vitality in cases of carious exposure, dental trauma, or developmental defects. Objective: This study aimed to compare the physicochemical and biological properties of four pulp capping materials: Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA), Biodentine®, TheraCal LC, and TheraCal PT. Methods: Compressive strength, shear bond strength to composite resin, radiopacity, in vitro biominer-alization, and cytocompatibility with human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) were eval-uated under standardized conditions. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's post hoc test (α = 0.05). Results: TheraCal PT exhibited the highest compressive and bond strength (p < 0.001), while MTA showed the greatest radiopacity (p < 0.001). Biodentine and MTA demonstrated superior biomineral-ization with abundant calcium phosphate crystal formation. In cell viability assays, MTA and TheraCal PT performed similarly to the control (p > 0.024), whereas Biodentine and TheraCal LC showed significantly reduced viability (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Resin-mod-ified materials offer advantages in mechanical performance and bonding but may compromise biomineralization and biocompatibility. Water-based materials like MTA remain superior in bioactivity and cellular response. Clinicians should balance physical properties with biological outcomes when selecting pulp capping agents.
Keywords: Biocompatibility, Biodentine, Biomineralization, calcium silicate, Compressive Strength, MTA, Pulp capping, Theracal
Received: 02 Nov 2025; Accepted: 19 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hernández Cabanillas, Hardan, Cuevas-Suárez, Olivares Acosta, DANG, Tosco, Kharouf, Lukomska-Szymanska, Haikel and Bourgi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Carlos Enrique Cuevas-Suárez, cecuevas@uaeh.edu.mx
Youssef Haikel, youssef.haikel@unistra.fr
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.