E. Andersen et al., EFFECTS OF COOLING AND HEATING OF THE TOOTH ON PULPAL BLOOD-FLOW IN MAN, Endodontics & dental traumatology, 10(6), 1994, pp. 256-259
Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) was used to study the changes in pulpal
blood flow (PBF) evoked by application of cold or heat to the palatina
l surfaces of teeth 11 or 21 in nine young subjects. Switching from a
thermode temperature of 33-degrees-C to 5-degrees-C on average induced
a slow decrease of PBF to about 80% of control, and also warming to 3
9-degrees-C evoked a small reduction in most subjects. Interindividual
differences were large, however, and both cooling and warming sometim
es triggered a rise in PBF. In contrast, skin blood flow, as recorded
with LDF in the forearm, invariably rose during warming and fell durin
g local cooling. The results suggested a more complex interaction betw
een local and nervously mediated effects of moderate changes in temper
ature in the tooth pulp than skin, and that the previously held view o
f cold and heat decreasing and increasing PBF, respectively, is wrong.