Role of Calcium Hydroxide in Endodontics An Elixir of Life for the Dying Teeth

Calcium hydroxide is a white odourless powder which has many implications in endodontics and its main actions come from the ionic dissociation of Ca2+ and OH- ions. It is as an eminent material which is used in pulp therapy to induce the dentinal bridge formation over the exposed pulp. It has various application in endodontics such as antimicrobial agent, intracanal medicament, as pulp capping agents, for specification, to prevent or resolve external resorption after trauma of tooth etc. Calcium hydroxide has also been developed as root canal sealers (sealapex, calciobiotic). It also has synergistic effect like anti- endotoxin activity and anti-fungal activity when used in combination with sodium hypochloride and chlorhexidine. Thus what makes calcium hydroxide so special to dentistry is probably that it is one of those few materials which has both an antibacterial property and an august property of inducing a hard tissue barrier, an elixir of life for the dying teeth.The purpose of this book is to critically analyse all the data related to calcium hydroxide in endodontics in the light of present research and to present it in a scientific manner.