title: Dental Pulp: Correspondences and Contradictions between Clinical and Histological Diagnosis.
abstract: Dental pulp represents a specialized connective tissue enclosed by dentin and enamel, the most highly mineralized tissues of the body. Consequently, the direct examination as well as pathological evaluation of dental pulp is difficult. Within this anatomical context, our study aimed to evaluate the correlation between dental pulp lesions and clinical diagnosis. Pulpectomies were performed for 54 patients with acute and chronic irreversible pulpitides and for 5 patients (control group) with orthodontic extractions. The morphological features were semiquantitatively assessed by specific score values. The clinical and morphological correspondence was noted for 35 cases (68.62%), whereas inconsistency was recorded for 16 cases (31.38%). The results of the statistical analysis revealed the correlations between clinically and pathologically diagnosed acute/chronic pulpitides. No significant differences were established between the score values for inflammatory infiltrate intensity, collagen depositions, calcifications and necrosis, and acute, respectively chronic pulpitides. We also obtained significant differences between acute pulpitides and inflammatory infiltrate and calcifications and between chronic pulpitides and inflammatory infiltrate, collagen deposition, and calcifications. On the basis of the predominant pathological aspects, namely, acute and chronic pulpitis, we consider that the classification schemes can be simplified by adequately reducing the number of clinical entities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Odontology, Periodontology, and Fixed Prosthesis, Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Grigore T. Popa", 16 University Street, 700115 Iaşi, Romania.
authors.forename: Cristian Levente
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Giuroiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Morpho-Functional Sciences, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Grigore T. Popa", 16 University Street, 700115 Iaşi, Romania.
authors.forename: Irina-Draga
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Căruntu
authors.affiliation: Department of Morpho-Functional Sciences, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Grigore T. Popa", 16 University Street, 700115 Iaşi, Romania.
authors.forename: Ludmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lozneanu
authors.affiliation: Department of Odontology, Periodontology, and Fixed Prosthesis, Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Grigore T. Popa", 16 University Street, 700115 Iaşi, Romania.
authors.forename: Anca
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Melian
authors.affiliation: Department of Odontology, Periodontology, and Fixed Prosthesis, Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Grigore T. Popa", 16 University Street, 700115 Iaşi, Romania.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vataman
authors.affiliation: Department of Odontology, Periodontology, and Fixed Prosthesis, Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Grigore T. Popa", 16 University Street, 700115 Iaşi, Romania.
authors.forename: Sorin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andrian
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003804:Dentin / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009804:Odontoblasts / Q000473:pathology; D011670:Pulpectomy / Q000379:methods; D011671:Pulpitis / Q000503:physiopathology*