Effect of Aging On the Nerve Supply To Human Teeth

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

Noncarious extracted teeth from individuals 40 to 70 years of age were used to study the effect of aging on the nerves supplying the pulp. Noncarious teeth from young individuals, less than 20 years of age, were used as controls. Ninety percent of the pulps of old teeth exhibited pulpal calcification, both diffuse and nodular. In contrast, pulp from none of the young teeth showed evidence of calcification. The process of calcification first involved the connective tissue covering the nerves, and then the nerves themselves. The calcifying process led to the obliteration of the nerves. As a result of the calcification of the nerves located in the apical portion of the root, there was an apparent decrease in the number of nerve branches in the coronal portion of the pulp in comparison with control pulp.

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