Change of vascular architecture of dental pulp with growth

Abstract

The study of blood vessels of the pulp in the teeth of human and experimental animals has been done by using various methods and techniques. It is believed that in 1901 Lepkowski was the first investigator to show that some branches of the inferior alveolar artery entered the proximal papilla of human fetus by injection of ‘Berlin blue’ into the blood vessels, and Hopewell-Smith (1918), Welling (1925) and Kamrin (1934) gave a systematic account of the arrangement and structure of the blood vessels in the dental pulp. In 1942, Boling made an attempt to study the vascular arrangement of the pulpal vessels in three dimensions by making graphic reconstructions from serial sections of the jaws of dogs and cats using injections of ‘Prussian blue’ and clearing the specimens. Kramer (1951) studied the pulpal vasculature of freshly extracted human teeth using the unique Indian ink suction technique. Saunders (1957) and Rapp and Fenton (1984) injected a radiopaque material and Indian ink into the pulpal vessels of extracted human teeth using modified Kramer’s technique. Kindlova (1959) tried to study three-dimensional vascular arrangement by constructing a latex cast of rat pulpal vessels and observing it under the light microscope.