Chemical-Mechanical Removal of Caries Lesions in Primary Teeth with a Bromelain-Based Gel

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a bromelain-based gel on the degree of chemical-mechanical removal of caries lesions in the dentin of primary teeth. The study had an experimental, analytical, and longitudinal design, and was carried out in the Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology of the Faculty of Human Medicine of a Peruvian university, between August and November 2022; the sample consisted of 30 teeth with caries lesions in dentin distributed in 2 study groups with 15 specimens each; the experimental group was treated with a gel made from bromelain, meanwhile, the control group was treated with a commercial papain-based gel. 33.3% of specimens revealed complete removal of the caries lesion with bromelain, with no statistically significant difference between the bromelain-based gel and the papain-based control gel (Mann Whitney U; p = 0.62*); regarding the chemical-mechanical removal time, no statistically acceptable difference was found between the two groups (ANOVA; p = 0.85***). It is concluded that the bromelain-based gel was effective in the chemical-mechanical removal of caries lesions in the dentin of primary teeth.