Pressure within the Pulp Chamber of the Dog's Tooth Relative to Arterial Blood Pressure

¹ School of Dentistry and Division of Basic Health Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

A method was described for recording simultaneously the dental pulp-fluid pressure and arterial blood pressure.

Intravenous injection of adrenalin produced a prompt rise in both arterial and dental-pulp fluid pressure. Within a short time the adrenalin was apparently oxidized, whereupon the pulp pressure and pulp-fluid pressure returned to and fell slightly below the pre-injection level.

Similar results were obtained with constant infusion and cessation of infusion of adrenalin.

Acetylcholine infused intravenously produced a pronounced drop in both arterial [see figure in the PDF file] and pulp-fluid pressure. Shortly after the infusion was discontinued, the blood pressure began to rise, followed by a rise in the pulp-fluid pressure.

Blood pressure was raised and lowered also without the use of drugs, in the first instance by cutting the vagi and in the second instance by bleeding the animal. In these as in the other experiments, the rise and fall of blood pressure were followed promptly by a rise and fall of pulp-fluid pressure.