Determination of lidocaine in dental pulp by high-performance liquid chromatography.

The purpose of this study was to develop a method for lidocaine detection in dental pulp by high-performance liquid chromatography. The amounts of lidocaine in dog pulps were quantitated after local injection to evaluate lidocaine recovery from pulp tissue with this technique. Comparison was also made between the amount of lidocaine found in upper and lower canines. The high-performance liquid chromatography system was shown to be a reliable and reproducible tool for lidocaine determination. Lidocaine extraction from the tissue showed recovery of 90%. The amount of lidocaine recovered from the upper canine (0.21 microg/mg) was higher than the lower canine (0.17 microg/mg).

Retrograde seal in ultrasonically prepared canals.

The sealing ability of various retrofilling materials was compared. The root canals of 85 single-rooted teeth were cleansed and obturated with gutta-percha without sealer using lateral condensation. The apical 3 mm of the roots were resected and divided into positive control, negative control, and five experimental groups. The experimental teeth received root-end cavity preparation to 3 mm depth using an ultrasonic retroprep tip. The retrocavities were dried and divided into five groups to receive the following materials: amalgam with varnish, amalgam with Clearfil Liner Bond II, thermoplasticized gutta-percha (TGP) with sealer, Ketac-fil, and Super-EBA. After immersion in India ink for 7 days, the roots were demineralized, cleared, and evaluated for dye leakage under a stereomicroscope. Statistical analysis showed that Super-EBA, Ketac-fil, and TGP with sealer demonstrated less leakage than amalgam with varnish and amalgam with Clearfil Liner Bond II (p < 0.05). Super-EBA also leaked significantly less than Ketac-fil or TGP sealer (p < 0.05). No significant difference was found between Ketac-fil and TGP or between the two groups filled with amalgam (p > 0.05).

In vivo and in vitro glycosaminoglycans from human dental pulp.

A qualitative assessment was made of the type of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) present in normal human dental pulp using electrophoresis on cellulose-acetate plates. A comparison was also made between the GAG derived directly from the dental pulp (in vivo) and those derived from cultured pulp fibroblasts from the same individual (in vitro). The results of this study showed four main types of GAG in normal human dental pulp tissue, which were dermatan sulfate, heparan sulfate, hyaluronic acid, and chondroitin sulfate. GAG synthesis from cultured pulp fibroblasts in vitro was different from the GAG present in the dental pulp (in vivo). Extracellular GAG, as well as pericellular GAG consisted of dermatan sulfate, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, and heparin. Cellular GAG, however, contained only dermatan sulfate, hyaluronic acid, and chondroitin sulfate. There was no difference in type of GAG from the second and fourth passaged pulp fibroblasts.

Flow cytometric analysis of human dental pulp tissue.

Existing knowledge regarding the cellular components of the dental pulp has been derived primarily from classical methods of histology and biochemistry. Since observations made from prepared tissue sections are static, it is not clear whether this accurately reflects the cellular dynamics of living pulp tissue. Therefore, we developed a method to analyze vital human pulpal tissue by flow cytometry. To test this method, two analyses of the prepared pulpal tissue were performed. First, the prepared tissue was stained with monoclonal antibodies to detect lymphocyte subpopulations. Second, the tissue was processed for DNA analysis of individual cells. Results demonstrated that lymphocytes bearing CD4 and CD8 antigens were clearly detected in pulpal tissue by this method. No B cells were found in any sample. DNA analysis revealed two distinct cell populations. Approximately 88% were small and 12% were large. According to DNA content, 90% of all cells were noncycling and 10% were cycling. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using flow cytometric analysis to examine, at a quantitative level, the cellular heterogeneity of the human dental pulp.