Age Changes in the Blood Supply to Human Teeth

¹ Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Noncarious teeth from individuals 40 to 70 years of age were used to study the effect of aging on the blood vessels of the pulp. In addition, noncarious teeth from young individuals less than 20 years old were used as controls.

The arterial vessels exhibited arteriosclerotic changes as early as at 40 years of age. They included intimal thickening and elastic hyperplasia. The majority of the vessels examined showed a deposition of PAS-positive material in the intima that extended into the media.

The most common alteration involving the vessels was the calcification of the arteries. This process began in the adventitia and progressed into the media and intima, and eventually eroded into the blood vessels. As a result of these degenerative changes of the vessels in the apical portion of the root, there was a relative decrease in the number of arteries and terminal branches supplying the coronal portion of the pulp and dentin.

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