Histologic variations in the pulp of intact premolars from young individuals.

Abstract

abstract— The investigation included 54 intact premolars from children between 11 and 15 years of age. The teeth were scheduled to be extracted for orthodontic reasons. The extraction was performed with local anesthesia and the teeth were fixed in 10% formalin for 2, 4 or 8 d. The intention of this investigation was to show the histologic variation of the pulpal condition in such clinically intact teeth. The investigation included predentin, odontoblast layer, Weill's zone, cell‐rich layer, and the central part of the pulp. The results showed that there was a great variation in the width of predentin in the column area, and that almost all teeth had vacuoles in the odontoblast layer and inflammatory cells in the cell‐rich layer. An indistinct Weill's zone and reticular atrophy in the central part of the pulp were common findings. Therefore the above‐mentioned “changes” cannot be considered valid criteria of iatrogenically induced reactions in the pulp. In the coronal pulp the number of rows of odontoblast nuclei was constant. No inflammatory cells were found in the odontoblast layer and only a few in the central part of the pulp. Consequently, changes in these items are considered reliable criteria of pulpal reactions following exogenic injuries.