Rita Kundziņa

Abstract

Will Mineral trioxide aggregate replace calcium hydroxide in treating carious exposures in adults?

Direct pulp capping (DPC) of carious exposures remains a controversial treatment for mature teeth.  Pulp capping material calcium hydroxide (CH) was introduced almost 100 years ago. Among adult patients, DPC with CH show a rather low success rate. Twenty years ago, mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) was first tested and since that several experimental studies show that it produces better dentine bridge formation than does CH. Histological studies have primarily been based on healthy teeth, undermining the generalizability of the results to adult patients with carious exposures. A recent randomized clinical study showed that MTA is more effective than conventional CH dressing as a direct pulp capping material in molars with carious pulpal exposures in adult patients.
It also challenges the treatment of choice guidelines for carious exposures in adult molars, particularly if high-quality endodontics is not available.

Biography

Rita Kundzina graduated from Riga Stradiņš University in 1978. She defended a doctoral dissertation in Moscow 1990. Later completed a 1-year postdoctoral general dentistry program at the University of Rochester Eastman Institute for Oral Health. She has worked for 28 years at the RSU Operative Dentistry Department where she had responsibility for undergraduate and postgraduate endodontic training.

Rita Kundzina began working at UiT The Arctic University of Norway as an associate professor in endodontics in 2009.  Currently she is responsible for an endodontic course at UiT. As well as supervising postgraduates in clinical odontology at TkNN (Dental Health Center for Northern Norway). The focus in science - Clinical trials and epidemiology.