The vascularity of dental pulp in cats

The fraction of the volume of the coronal pulp of cat canines that is occupied by blood vessels was estimated by measurement of the cross-sectional areas of all the vessels in a complete transverse section of the pulp from each of four teeth. The sections were taken 0.5 mm from the pulp cornu. Overall, 14.4% of the area of the pulp was occupied by vessels. In the core of the pulp, the average value was 42.9%, and superficially, near the odontoblast layer, it was between 5 and 10%. The average capillary density was 1402/mm2, which is higher than in most other tissues. Laser Doppler flow meters can be used for recording blood flow from the coronal pulp of intact teeth, but these instruments are linear only if the moving blood cells occupy no more than 1% of the tissue volume. The present results suggest that this figure is exceeded in pulp.