Innervation of human tooth pulp in relation to caries and dentition type.
The neural status of carious teeth, particularly those associated with a painful pulpitis, is largely unknown. This study sought to determine differences in the innervation density of human primary and permanent teeth and whether caries or painful pulpitis was associated with anatomical changes in pulpal innervation. Coronal pulps were removed from 120 primary and permanent molars with a known pain history. Teeth were categorized as intact, moderately carious, or grossly carious. Using indirect immunofluorescence, we labeled sections for the general neuronal marker, protein gene product 9.5. Using image analysis, we found permanent teeth to be significantly more densely innervated than primary teeth. While there was no significant correlation with reported pain experience, neural density in both dentitions increased significantly with caries. Analysis of these data suggests that caries-induced changes in neural density may be functionally more important in the regulation of pulpal inflammation and healing than in the processing and perception of dental pain.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, UK. h.d.rodd@sheffield.ac.uk
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D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000473:pathology*; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000294:innervation*; D019229:Dentition, Permanent; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008963:Molar / Q000294:innervation; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D010147:Pain Measurement; D013869:Thiolester Hydrolases / Q000032:analysis; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000294:innervation*; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D013869:Thiolester Hydrolases; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase