Blood Flow in the Dental Pulp of the Dog. ∗

Abstract

Summary

Pulpal blood flow to the canine teeth of young dogs was studied using the isotope fractionation technique, which involves determining the fractional distribution of the cardiac output to the teeth. Cardiac outputs were determined from isotope dilution curves. Xylocaine and xylocaine with varying amounts of epinephrine (5-20 μg) were infiltrated separately at the apex of a canine tooth. The contralateral tooth in the same arch served as the control. The average flow in the control teeth was 0.98 cc min-g of pulp tissue. Flow in teeth which had xylocaine alone infiltrated at the apex showed no significant difference from the controls. However, flow in those canine teeth which had 5-20 μg of epinephrine infiltrated decreased an average of about 30%. This change in flow was significantly correlated to the dose of epinephrine injected.