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Updated: May 29, 2026

Establishment of a Murine Pulp Exposure Model with a Novel Mouth-Gag for Pulpitis Research
Published on: October 27, 2023
Local anesthetics, pulpal blood flow and C. Edmund Kells
1Emeritus Baylor College of Dentistry, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. jlgutmann@earthlink.net
Abstract:
Historically there was an attempt by many dental practitioners to implicate anesthetic solutions in the death of the dental pulp. However, their implications may or may not have been valid, as damage to the dental pulp may have resulted from excessive and deleterious restorative procedures on teeth that were anesthetized. Unfortunately little was known about the anesthetic solutions at that time, their composition, which included vasoconstrictors, and their potential to alter pulpal blood flow. This paper will explore both the historical perspectives and concerns regarding the impact of anesthetic solutions on the dental pulp through the eyes of Dr. C. Edmund Kells, along with the contemporary perspectives and realities through the eyes of science, sound research data and clinical practice.
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