Warungkana Chidchuangchai. Dental pain and cyclooxygenase activity in human teeth with normal and inflamed pulps . Doctoral Degree(Oral Biology). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2003.
Dental pain and cyclooxygenase activity in human teeth with normal and inflamed pulps
Abstract:
The purposes of this series of experiments are to compare the pain sensation produced by
cold stimulation of exposed dentine under different conditions in vivo and the fluid flow through
dentine under similar conditions in vitro and to investigate the effects of pulpal inflammation on
pulpal fluid prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels, pulpal blood flow, sensory threshold, and pain
sensation evoked by thermal stimulation of dentine in human subjects.
The experiments were carried out on 44 healthy premolar teeth in 27 human subjects (aged
16-30 years). The teeth were scheduled for extraction as part of orthodontic treatment. The series I
experiment was done on 24 teeth from 17 subjects. Dentine was exposed at the tip of the buccal
cusp by cutting a cavity (diam. 3 mm, depth 3 mm) with a diamond bur in an air-rotor handpiece
under a constant stream of water. Cold stimuli were applied by placing the tip of an ice stick in the
cavity for five seconds. The subject indicated the intensity of any pain produced by placing a mark
on a visual analog scale (VAS). This method of testing dentine sensitivity was repeated after
etching the dentine with 35% phosphoric acid for 30 seconds and after treating the etched dentine
with potassium tetraoxalate for two minutes. Fluid flow through dentine produced by the cold
stimuli under similar conditions was recorded in the teeth after they had been extracted. The series
II experiment was done on 20 teeth from 10 subjects. Laser Doppler records of pulpal blood flow
were obtained after isolating the teeth with opaque black rubber dam and sensory thresholds were
determined with a monopolar electrical pulp tester. Dentine was exposed at the tip of the buccal
cusp (diam. 3 mm, depth 3 mm) and the smear layer removed by acid etching (35% phosphoric
acid for 30 seconds). Samples on dentinal fluid were collected by placing 10 μl phosphate-buffered
saline in the cavity for five minutes. The pain evoked by thermal stimulation (ice stick, water at 10
and 60°C) of the exposed dentine for five seconds was scored. The cavity was then filled with
either gutta percha alone (GP) or, on the contralateral side, GP sealed with glass ionomer material
(GI). After one week, the fillings were removed, the cavities cleaned with distilled water, and the
measurements and stimuli repeated. The teeth were extracted and fractured longitudinally. Pulpal
tissue fluid was collected from the buccal horn. PGE2 levels in dentinal and pulpal fluid were
determined using enzyme immunoassay.
Results in the series I experiment revealed that the mean VAS score produced by the ice
before etching was 21.25 mm (SD 19.46 mm). After etching, the mean VAS score increased
significantly to 85.42±15.60 mm, and after oxalate treatment it decreased significantly to
8.54±13.31 mm (P<0.01, One-way RM ANOVA and Tukey test). The mean rates of fluid flow
through dentine induced by cold stimulation before etching, after etching and after oxalate
treatment were 2.15±1.02, 1.55±0.84, and 2.29±1.28 nL/s/mm2 respectively, indicating the mean
rate after etching to be significantly different than the other two rates (P<0.05). Results in the
series II experiment revealed that treatment with GP+GI had no significant effects on mean pulpal
blood flow, mean VAS scores, and mean sensory threshold. In contrast, treatment with GP alone
increased both mean pulpal blood flow and mean VAS scores but decreased mean sensory
threshold. PGE2 levels were significantly higher after filling with GP than GP+GI (in dentinal
fluid: 1.32±1.26 and 0.67±0.56 ng/ml; in pulpal fluid: 424.44±377.06 and 150.38±164.70 ng/ml,
respectively; p<0.05, Student’s t-test). This marks the first time that PGE2 level in dentinal fluid
has been measured.
Conclusion: Sensory transduction of cold stimuli in human teeth does not depend only on
a hydrodynamic mechanism. The unsealed GP filling caused an increase in the PGE2 levels of
dentinal and pulpal fluid, a decrease in sensory threshold to electrical stimulation, pulpal
vasodilatation and hyperalgesia of dentine to thermal stimulation.
This study was supported from the Thailand Research Fund through the Royal Golden
Jubilee Ph.D. Program.