Innervation of different parts of the predentin and dentin in young human premolars

The innervation of the predentin and inner part of the mineralized dentin was studied at the ultrastructural level in ten premolars. Each tooth was divided into fifteen different parts, each containing odontoblasts, predentin and dentin. It was found that the innervation in the coronal dentin was more compact than in the root dentin. Within the coronal dentin itself, the most densely innervated area was the dentin covering the pulp horns. No nerves were identified more than 100 microns from the pulp-dentinal border. No nervous structures were found in the mineralized dentin of the root. Nervous structures which seemed to have no connection with the odontoblastic processes were frequently observed in the predentin of the root. Signs of degeneration of the nervous structures of the predentin of the root was also a common finding. The observation that the intradentinal nerves were confined to the predentin and the most pulpal part of the dentin supports the theory that surface stimulation on dentin has an indirect effect on the nerves activated by movements in the liquid of the dentinal tubules.