What is Dental Pulp?

While your teeth may appear to be strong rock-like objects in your mouth, they are in fact multi-layered living human tissues. Dental Pulp is the soft tissue deep inside your teeth that extends from the top most part of your tooth (the crown) right through down to the tip of the root that goes into your jaw bone.

The dental pulp is made up of connective tissues through which blood and lymphatic fluids flow plus contains the nerves that cause toothache when there is something wrong a tooth.

Why is Dental Pulp so important?

The Dental Pulp is important because it behaves like an alarm system; letting you know when there is something wrong by first becoming sensitive (to temperatures or pressure) and if left unattended by sending pain signals as the harm or damage increases or isn’t repaired.

For the last decade scientists have been researching the different types of regenerative properties different parts of the human body and discovered that the stem cells within Dental Pulp are ideal for tissue reconstruction and can be safely cryopreserved, have a long lifespan and are able to build adult bone.

These clever stem cells are also proving able to be used in situations where they can be grafted into tissues and then will exert anti-inflammatory behaviours.

Why would Dental Pulp need to be removed?

If you experience toothache pain or swelling from an infection in the Dental Pulp of a tooth, it’s generally accepted that right now there are no oral medications that will cure the infection. This is why your Dentist will need to remove the source of the infection through a dental procedure.

The risk of a Dental Pulp infection spreading into the jawbone surround the tooth is a real danger to your overall health. Specifically any risk of infection in your jawbone can result in a flow on effect of damage to your sinuses; ear pain, eye pain and neuralgia. Death of the actual tooth is also a likely outcome and if this happens you’ll get a darkening/black tooth.

Without nerves and the pulp, your tooth is still useful and able to perform all the things it used to do, just without being able to sense hot and cold.