Effect on human teeth of renal transplantation: a postmortem study

Extracted teeth from five deceased patients treated by renal transplantation were examined radiographically and histologically, and compared with teeth from healthy persons of approximately the same age. In three of the patients with a renal transplant, the radiographs showed normal pulp chamber sizes, but histologic examination revealed a widened predentin zone, approximately four times greater than in the controls. In two of the patients the radiographs showed marked reduction of the pulp chamber size. The histologic changes of these teeth were mainly an extensive amount of secondary dentin along the pulp chamber walls and the root canals, with a markedly reduced pulp space. One explanation for the difference between the patients was that patients with extensive pulp calcifications were given a higher total amount of corticosteroids than patients with a widened predentin zone.