A method for studying the permeability of the blood vessels of the dental pulp during acute inflammation

Abstract

A study was made to develop a method for investigating the quantity and location of vascular leakage during acute inflammation of the dental pulp. Use was made of the method of "vascular labelling" by which carbon particles placed in the blood are deposited in the walls of leaking vessels. Three dogs were used, with cavities of varying depth being cut in their permanent teeth. Vascular leakage was induced in the skin and in some of the teeth by applying histamine phosphate solution. The tissues were studied in normal histologic sections and as cleared specimens. It was found that the number of leaking vessels was much less in the dental pulp than in the skin and that leakage was confined to the area immediately below the cavity preparation unless histamine had been applied to the cavity, when the labelled vessels were found further apically. The number of leaking vessels depended on the depth of the cavity, becoming greater as the cavity depth increased. These findings would support the common finding that the degree of inflammation beneath cavity preparations increases with cavity depth. The conclusion was that the method developed held promise as a tool in investigating vascular changes in the dental pulp.