Table 2:

Characteristics of included articles

Author	Study design	Age (year)	Tooth	Sample size	Agents used for indirect pulp capping (Intervention)	Agents used for indirect pulp capping (comparator)	Final restoration after indirect pulp capping	Follow up	Outcomes
									Clinically	Radiographically
George et al.18	Randomized control trial	5 to 9 years	Primary molars	40	MTA	Calcium hydroxide (Dycal)	GIC	3rd and 6th month	Clinical evaluation was done for pain, tenderness to percussion, discoloration of teeth, and presence of sinuses. one patient had reported with sinus opening during the course of follow-up of the study with no cases of radiographic failure in the Dycal group. No clinical failure in MTA group.	The increase in dentin thickness was measured using Corel Draw software, Version 13, at baseline, third, and sixth month. At the end of 6 months, in MTA group tertiary dentin deposition was 0.143 mm of dentin and Dycal group, dentin deposit was 0.097 mm which were also statistically significant with a p-value of 0.004
Mathur et al.3	Randomized control trial	7 to 12 years	Mandibular second primary molars and permanent first molars	50 primary molar, 45 permanent first molars	GIC (Type VII) MTA	Calcium hydroxide	Light cure composite resin	8 weeks, 6 months and 1 year	Clinical and radiographic success rate with calcium hydroxide was found to be 93.5% and with 100% with MTA.	CBCT scan was performed, the scans were viewed and analyzed using i-CAT Vision software or dentine thickness. The mean percent increase in radiodensity values at 6 month post operative scan was between 78% and 84% in all groups.
Chauhan et al.5	Randomized control trial	4 to 9 years	Primary molars	45	MTA Biodentine	Calcium hydroxide	GIC (Type II)	3rd, 6th month	Patients were evaluated clinically for the presence of pain, tenderness, loss of restoration, abnormal tooth mobility, or presence of sinuses in relation to the tooth in question and recorded as yes or no at 3 and 6 months, respectively. Clinically, 100% success rate was observed.	Radiographically, the treatment was considered successful when no signs of periodontal space widening, interrupted lamina dura, interradicular radiolucency, and furcation involvement were seen. Statistically significant difference in dentin thickness was observed in all the groups. The increment in dentin bridge was more for MTA than Dycal
Stafuzza et al.17	Randomized Clinical trial	5 to 8 years	Primary molars	36	MTA Portland Cement with added Zirconia	Calcium hydroxide	RMGIC	6 and 12 months	At following-up period, clinical criteria local pain, dental mobility, percussion sensitivity, periapical abscess, and restoration failure such as secondary caries were evaluated. The overall success rate of the therapy for the three groups was 94.11% and no statistically significant differences occurred in the comparison among groups (p >0.05)	MTA group showed increase of the dentin barrier, over time, 6- to 12-month follow-up. The intergroup comparison revealed no statistically significant differences (p >0.05).
Divyashree R16	Randomized Clinical trial	4 to 9 years	Primary molars	50	MTA	Calcium hydroxide	RMGIC	1st, 6th month	Criteria for clinical success included no pain, no sensitivity to percussion, no swelling and/or fistula, no pathologic tooth mobility, Retention of the restoration (Marginal integrity). At the end of 1 and 6 months both groups showed good biological seal and maintained vitality of the pulp	The increase in dentin thickness was measured using Corel Draw software. There was highly statistically significant difference among all the experimental groups at the end of 6th month (p-Value < 0.001). The amount of reparative dentin formed was highest in Dycal group followed by MTA group.
Divyashree et al.19	Randomized Clinical trial	5 to 9 years	Primary molars	75	MTA Silver Diamine Fluoride	Calcium hydroxide	RMGIC	1, 3 and 6 months	Criteria for clinical success included no pain, no sensitivity to percussion, no swelling and/or fistula, no pathologic tooth mobility, Retention of the restoration (Marginal integrity). At the end of 1 and 6 months both groups showed good biological seal and maintained vitality of the pulp	Amount of reparative dentin formed was highest in the Dycal group followed by MTA group.
Gupta et al.20	RCT	3 to 9 years	Primary molars	36	White MTA Biodentine	Calcium hydroxide	RMGIC liner and composite restoration	24 hours, 1,3,6,12 months	Teeth were assessed for clinical parameters, pain, sensitivity, tenderness on percussion, swelling, mobility, and loss of capping material. The 100% success rate was achieved in the MTA group followed by Dycal group	Radiographic changes evaluated were furcation radiolucency, Widening of PDL, Pathological root resorption, Deviated axial inclination of underlying tooth, Postoperative caries, Calcific degeneration. MTA had 100% success rate for IPC and while 81.8% for Dycal