Aloe vera as vehicle to mineral trioxide aggregate: study in bone repair

AIM: Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) was associated to Aloe vera to verify the coadjutant action of that medicinal plant in the bone neoformation process in tibia of rats.MATERIAL AND METHOD: 36 male rats (Rattus norvegicus) were used, divided into two groups of 18 rats each. Two circumferential bone defects with approximately 5 mm in diameter were made on the right tibia of each animal: the upper defect was filled with blood coagulates in both groups to serve as experimental control and the lower defect was filled with MTA and Aloe vera in experimental (group E1) and MTA and distilled water in experimental (group E2). Seven, 15 and 30 days after surgery, six animals from each group were euthanized and the right tibia of each animal was removed for histological analysis.RESULT: Histologically, experimental group E1 presented better results for the two variables, inflammation [at seven days (p=0.045)] and bone formation [at seven days (p=0.018) and 30 days (p=0.034)], compared to the E2 group.CONCLUSION: The association of MTA and Aloe vera showed potential to reduce the effects of the inflammatory cascade and promote bone neoformation making it to a promising proposal for future use in endodontic therapy.