Vasculature of the dental pulp of atherosclerotic monkeys: light and electron microscopic findings.

Arteriosclerosis is a pathological condition in which there is a severe luminal narrowing of arterioles, resulting in tissue ischemia and necrosis. Arteriosclerosis has been reported in the dental pulp of normotensive persons as young as 40 yr of age. To date, no corroboration of these findings have been published. Our study examined pulp from atherosclerotic monkeys for such changes under controlled conditions. The lingual artery and canines from 11 nonatherosclerotic (control) and 11 atherosclerotic (experimental) cynolmolgus monkeys were histologically evaluated with light and transmission electron microscopy. Lingual arteries from controls did not exhibit atherosclerotic plaques, whereas those of the experimental monkeys did show fibro-foamy plaques. However, neither experimental nor control animals exhibited any arteriosclerotic alterations in the pulp. Our study concluded that, in this animal model, which did demonstrate atherosclerosis in the oral cavity, no similar alterations were found in the pulp.