[Functional morphology of pulp tissue]

As compared with mesenchyme no genuine defense cells are developed in the tissue of the dental pulp and the nervous tissue. This is a further hint for the common development from ectoderm. The three dimensional meshwork of pulpa fibroblasts ("mesectoderm") is structured by elongated cell processes connected with each other by a variety of special cell junctions ("electronic cell coupling"). Metabolites from the microcirculation and neuropeptides from vegetative axons influence the activity of fibroblasts synthetizing groundsubstance. The meshwork of the groundsubstance has exclusion effects concerning molecules with a distinct molecular weight and charge. Thus a primitive defense system is established. With this the role of a newly described cell type of the dental pulp, the "lymphocytic pericyte" is discussed. Because of the poor capacity of the pulpa tissue for immunological reactions pathologically disorders may easily become chronically spreading their antigenic components throughout the body.