Direct pharmacological action of vasoactive substances on pulpal blood flow: an analysis and critique

An adequate blood supply to the dental pulp is essential to the health of the tooth; therefore, there have been a number of efforts to study pulpal blood flow and the factors which influence it. However, blood flow to the dental pulp is relatively inaccessible and apparently quite low. Consequently, it is difficult to obtain accurate flow measurements, partly owing to methodological difficulties with the small size of the tissue and its enclosure within rigid walls. In this study, the effects of locally applied vasoactive substances and their specific antagonists on pulpal blood flow have been examined by laser Doppler flowmetry. It is the purpose of this article to examine, in-depth, the involvement of endogenous vasoactive substances in the regulatory mechanism of blood flow within the dental pulp and expand our knowledge of pulpal microcirculatory hemodynamics.