title: Steroids reduce the periapical inflammatory and neural changes after pulpectomy.
abstract: Root canal treatment, including obturation with gutta-percha and a zinc oxide and eugenol sealer, was conducted, under general anesthesia, on the canine teeth of 12 young ferrets. Six of the ferrets were given 0.5 mg/kg dexamethasone daily. Three months after the root canal treatment, under general anesthesia, the animals were perfused with fixative and the canine periapical tissues prepared for histological examination. The extent of periapical inflammation was measured and the degree of neural sprouting in the periodontal and subapical regions estimated. Periapical lesions in steroid-treated animals were 30% of the size of those in untreated animals. Innervation density in the subapical region of the steroid-treated animals was lower than that in the animals who did not receive steroids and not significantly different from controls. Reduction in periapical inflammation induced by systemic steroids is accompanied by a reduction in neural sprouting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences, and Endodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1078, USA.
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Holland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000294:innervation; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005289:Ferrets; D008297:Male; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology; D010485:Periapical Periodontitis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D010486:Periapical Tissue / Q000294:innervation*; D011670:Pulpectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012389:Root Canal Obturation; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015035:Zinc Oxide-Eugenol Cement / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D015035:Zinc Oxide-Eugenol Cement; D003907:Dexamethasone