Evaluation of calcium ion release in calcium hydroxide prototype as intracanal medicament

Objective: Calcium Hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) has been widely used in many dental treatments such as pulp capping, dentin hypersensitivity and as an endodontic intracanal medicament. Ca(OH)₂ is highly alkaline, has antimicrobial, and remineralization action by releasing Ca²⁺ and OH. Ca²⁺ release plays an important role in cell proliferation and remineralization of hard tissue healing. Indonesian limestone can be synthesized to produce Ca(OH)₂ that can be an alternative to commercial Ca(OH)₂ available. Therefore this study aimed to synthesized a Ca(OH)₂ prototype and evaluate the Ca²⁺ released by the Ca(OH)₂ prototype. Material and Methods: Ca(OH)₂ prototype was synthesized from limestone by calcination process and characterized by XRD and FTIR. The Ca(OH)₂ prototype was then manipulated to a pasta form by mixing the powder with distilled water in 0.8 w/p ratio then inserted to a polyethylene tubed (2x10mm) using and immersed in 10 ml distilled water. Samples were divided into three groups for different periods of Ca²⁺ evaluation (1, 7 and 14 days). The Ca²⁺ concentration released was measured by a Spectrophotometer (DIRUI DR-7000D). Data obtained were analyzed by Anova. Results: The observations on one day immersion was 3.589 mg/dL, the observation for seven days was 3.736 mg/dL, and for 14 days was 3.850 mg/dL. Statistically p<0.05. Conclusion: Calcium hydroxide prototype released a sustainable amount of Ca²⁺ up to 14 days with the highest concentration achieved on day 14th.