Care of the Pulp Flashcards
What cells are found in the pulp?
- Odontoblasts
What nerves are found in the pulp? (3 points)
- Plexus of Raschkow
- Alpha fibres (myelinated)
- C-fibres (unmyelinated)
What is the nerve plexus of Raschkow? (3 points)
- Sensory nerve fibres that originate from superior and inferior alveolar nerves innervate the odontoblastic layer of the pulp cavity
- These nerves enter the tooth through the apical foramen as myelinated nerve bundles
- They branch to form subodontoblastic nerve plexus of Raschkow
Are blood vessel present in the pulp?
- Yes, so the pulp is vital
Pulp is a vital tissue, What are 2 properties of this? (2 points)
- Responds to stimuli
- Has regenerative potential
What are the 4 main functions o f the pulp?
- Nutrition
- Sensory (temperature, pressure pain)
- Protective (tertiary dentine formation - reparative healing)
- Formative (secondary dentine)
What is there a poor correlation between in relation to the pulp?
- The clinical symptomatology and pulpal histopathology
In relation to restorations what can damage the pulp? (4 points)
- Placement of the restoration
- restorative material s
- Microleakage
- Etch
How can radiation therapy damage the pulp?
- Blasting and killing of a lot of cells - will potentially damage the pulp cells
What different things do you need to know what the reaction if the pulp will be to? (4 points)
- Caries
- Operative manipulations
- Trauma
- Periodontal tissue
How can cavity/crown preparations damage the pulp? (6 points)
- Heat generation from high speed
- Type and size of bur used
- Dehydration of dentine
- Cutting odontoblastic processes
- Direct injury to the pulp (handpieces going all the way into the pulp)
- How thick the remaining dentine is
What considerations need to be made about restorative materials that could damage the pulp?(5 points)
- Toxicity
- Water absorption
- Heat of reaction
- Poor marginal adaptation/seal
- Cementation of restoration
What happens to dentine tubules as they go towards the pulp?
- They increase in number and diameter as they approach the pulp
- Therefore the deeper the cavity the greater the dentine permeability
What things can travel through the dentinal tubules? (6 points)
- Bacterial substances (enzymes, peptides, exotoxins, endotoxins)
- Polysaccharides
- Antibodies
- Immune complexes
- Complement proteins
- Tissue destruction products
What is key towards initiating and maintaining pulpal and periradicular pathology?
- Micro-organisms
Are alpha fibres myelinated?
- Yes
What kind of pain is stimulated by alpha fibres and name a way in which this can be stimulated?
- Sharp pain
- Stimulated by electric pulp test
Are C-fibres myelinated?
- No, they are non-myelinated
What does stimulation of C-fibres cause and what type of pain is stimulated by C-fibres? (3 points)
- Dull/aching pain
- Increased pulpal blood flow
- Increased pulpal pressure
What is the acronym for pain assessment?
- SOCRATES
What does SOCRATES mean?
- Site
- Onset
- Character
- Radiates
- Associated systems
- Time/duration
- Exacerbating/relieving factors
- Severity
What does the first ‘S’ in SOCRATES mean?
Site - Where exactly is the pain?
What does the ‘O’ in SOCRATES mean?
Onset - What were they doing when the pain started?
What does the ‘C’ in SOCRATES mean?
Character - What does the pain feel like?
What does the ‘R’ in SOCRATES mean?
Radiates - Does the pain go anywhere else?
What does the ‘A’ in SOCRATES mean?
Associated symptoms - e.g. nausea, vomiting
What does the ‘T’ in SOCRATES mean?
Time/duration - How long have they had the pain?
What does the ‘E’ in SOCRATES mean?
Exacerbating/relieving factors - Does anything make the pain better or worse?
What does the last ‘S’ in SOCRATES mean?
Severity - Obtain an initial pain score
What are the possible diagnoses of the pulp? (6 points)
- Healthy pulp
- Reversible pulpitis
- Irreversible pulpitis
- Necrotic pulp
- Previously treated
- Previously initiated therapy
What are the 2 different types of irreversible pulpitis?
- Symptomatic
- Asymptomatic
What is necrotic pulp?
The death of most or all of the pulp
What is symptomatic irreversible pulpitis?
- The vital inflamed pulp is incapable of healing
- There may be lingering thermal pain, spontaneous pain, referred pain
What is asymptomatic irreversible pulpitis?
- The vital inflamed pulp is incapable of healing
- There are no clinical symptoms but inflammation produced by caries, caries excavation, trauma etc
What is previously treated pulp?
A clinical diagnostic category indicating that the tooth has been endodontically treated and that the canals are obstructed with various filling materials, other than intercanal medicaments
What is previously initiated therapy pulp?
-A clinical diagnostic category indicating that the tooth has been previously treated by partial endodontic therapy e.g. pulpotomy/pulpectomy
What are the different classifications of periapical disease? (5 points)
- Normal
- Periapical periodontitis (symptomatic/asymptomatic)
- Acute apical abscess
- Chronic apical abscess
- Condensing osteitis
What are the 2 different classifications of periapical periodontitis?
- Symptomatic
- Asymptomatic
What is symptomatic apical periodontitis and what are some clinical symptoms? (4 points)
- A painful inflammation of the periodontium as a result of trauma, irritation, or infection through the root canal, regardless of wether the pulp is vital or non-vital
- Producing clinical symptoms including painful response to biting and percussion
What is asymptomatic apical periodontitis?
- The symptomless sequelae of symptomatic apical periodontitis and is characterised radiographically by periradicular radiolucent changes and histologically by the lesion dominated with macrophages, lymphocytes and plasma cells
What is an acute apical abscess?
- An inflammatory reaction to pulpal infection and necrosis characterised by rapid onset, spontaneous pain, tenderness of the tooth to pressure, pus formation and eventual swelling of associated tissues
What is a chronic alveolar abscess?
- A long standing, low grade infection of the periradicular alveolar bone generally symptomless and characterised by the presence of an abscess draining through a sinus tract
What is Condensing Osteitis?
- A diffuse radiopaque lesion believed to represent a localised bony reaction to a low grade inflammatory stimulus, usually seen at the apex of a tooth in which there has been a long standing pulpal infection
Under what circumstances should healthy, vital pulp be removed? (2 points)
Removed if endodontic treatment indicated for:
- Elective or prosthetic purposes
- Traumatic pulp exposure (ideally treat pulp exposure in 24hours, bit if not - RCT is required)
Is the pulp vital or non-vital in reversible pulpitis?
- Vital
What is the pulp like in reversible pulpitis?
- Inflammed
What do investigations about reversible pulpitis suggest?
- It can reverse to health if adequate vital pulp therapy is performed
What kind of test does reversible pulpitis regularly respond to?
- Sensibility tests
Is the pulp in irreversible pulpitis vital or non-vital?
Still vital but in the process of dying off
What is the pulp like in irreversible pulpitis?
- Inflamed