Nanodiamond Modified Gutta Percha (NDGP) Composite for Non-surgical Root Canal Therapy (RCT) Filler Material

January 12, 2022 updated by: Eric Sung, DDS, University of California, Los Angeles

Nanodiamond Modified Gutta Percha (NDGP) Composite for Non-surgical Root Canal Therapy (RCT) Filler Material Applied by Vertical Condensation Obturation Procedure

Non-surgical root canal therapy (RCT) represents a standard of treatment that addresses infected pulp tissue in teeth and protects against future infection while preserving the tooth for the patient for mainly cosmetic purposes. RCT is offered as the better cosmetic, cheaper, and less time intensive treatment option for a patient compared to those of dental implantation. Dental implantation is the alternative to RCT, and they are both originally offered at the time of the initial consultation. RCT involves non-surgically removing dental pulp comprising blood vessels and nerve tissue, decontaminating residually infected tissue, and using a filler material to replace the non-surgically created space where the pulp was removed. Currently, standard of care treatment for RCT utilizes gutta-percha as the root canal filling material. Our research group has previously demonstrated NDGP's improvement in tensile strength compared to those of gutta-percha. This research studies a new type of filler, gutta-percha modified by the addition of nanodiamond material (NDGP). This is an equivalence study of NDGP and standard gutta-percha administration.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

4

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
        • University of California, Los Angeles

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18 years old or older when patient is referred to UCLA endodontics department for root canal therapy
  • Patient referral to UCLA endodontics department for root canal therapy

Exclusion Criteria:

  • preoperative periodontal disease
  • prior non-surgical and surgical endodontic treatment
  • currently taking medications used to treat osteoporosis or any form of IV biphosphonates
  • allergic to dental materials
  • dental phobia
  • MD consult/medically compromised/prophylaxis needed
  • developmental/congenital disorders
  • craniofacial disorder/syndromic cases
  • low pain tolerance ascertained from past dental experience
  • current moderate to severe periodontitis
  • previous RCT/initiated pulp therapy
  • previous apical surgery
  • previous surgical root canal procedure
  • with psychiatric and/or mental health history
  • poor oral hygiene
  • poor diet
  • illicit and/or recreational drug use
  • complicated dental history

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Gutta Percha
For all the patients in the control arm of the study, standard treatment of care procedures will be given. Root canal therapy will be given according to the vertical obturation technique. The root canals will be filled with standard root canal filler material: gutta percha at the apical third up to and including the coronal third. The tooth will be restored with a crown for posterior teeth, or a composite filling for anterior teeth.
Gutta percha is a device made from coagulated sap of certain tropical trees intended to fill the root canal of a tooth. The gutta percha is softened by heat and inserted into the root canal, where it hardens as it cools. Gutta percha is classified as Class I (general controls).
Other Names:
  • GP
Experimental: Nanodiamond reinforced Gutta Percha
For all the patients in the treatment arm of the study, standard treatment of care procedures will be given. Root canal therapy will be given according to the vertical obturation technique. The difference between the two arms will be the root canal filler material used. The root canals for the treatment arm of the study will be filled with gutta percha at the apical third, Nanodiamond gutta percha (NDGP) in the middle third, and again with gutta percha at the coronal third. The tooth will be restored with a crown for posterior teeth, or a composite filling for anterior teeth.
Gutta percha is a device made from coagulated sap of certain tropical trees intended to fill the root canal of a tooth. The gutta percha is softened by heat and inserted into the root canal, where it hardens as it cools. Gutta percha is classified as Class I (general controls).
Other Names:
  • GP
Gutta percha reinforced with 5 nm diameter nanodiamonds 5 wt % (NDGP).
Other Names:
  • NDGP

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percent Reduction in Apical Radio-lucency
Time Frame: 6 months
A radiograph of the treated tooth is made after 6 months post treatment, which will be compared with the radiograph of the treated tooth taken immediately after the RCT procedure. Clinical examination is performed at 6 months after the operation. The greatest diameters (mm) of the radio-lucency were recorded.
6 months
Number of Participants With Absence of Apical Periodontitis
Time Frame: 1 year
Apical periodontitis resulting in pain and apical lucency is measured. A radiograph of the treated tooth is made after 1 year post treatment, which will be compared with the radiographs of the treated tooth taken immediately after the RCT procedure and 6 months post treatment. Clinical examination is performed at 1 year after the operation.
1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Post-Operative Pain
Time Frame: 6 months
Clinical examination is performed at 6 month after the operation to determine post-operative pain. Pain was assessed via a postoperative survey and a clinical examination (comparative pain scale 0 - 10; 0 is no pain and 10 is spontaneous pain).
6 months
Number of Participants With Tooth Survival (6 Month)
Time Frame: 6 months
A radiograph of the treated tooth is made after 6 months post treatment, which will be compared with the radiograph of the treated tooth taken immediately after the RCT procedure. Clinical examination is performed at 6 months after the operation.
6 months
Number of Participants With Tooth Survival (1 Year)
Time Frame: 1 year
A radiograph of the treated tooth is made after 1 year post treatment, which will be compared with the radiographs of the treated tooth taken immediately after the RCT procedure and 6 months post treatment. Clinical examination is performed at 1 year after the operation.
1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Dean Ho, M.S., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
  • Principal Investigator: Mo K Kang, Ph.D.,D.D.S., University of California, Los Angeles
  • Principal Investigator: Eric C Sung, University of California, Los Angeles

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 25, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 26, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

March 3, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 21, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 12, 2022

Last Verified

January 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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