Ask the Dentist with Dr. Mark Burhenne

Episode #33: What fixes pulpitis?

Oct 26, 2021

27:46

While many of us have experienced tooth pain, it seldom becomes fatal. This was not the case in the past, and world history would probably be vastly different if we had 21st-century dental care readily accessible across the ages. Welcome back to Ask the Dentist podcast, where today we ask Dr. Burhenne “what fixes pulpitis”? Tune in to find out what pulpitis is, why the pulp of the tooth is so important, and how it can lead to serious health issues if left untreated. Find out the difference between reversible and irreversible pulpitis (and how a crown can help either situation), and how to manage acute pulpitis. From a basic anatomy lesson on what teeth are made of and how they are formed, to a simple explanation of why tooth pain is something you don’t want to leave unchecked, don’t miss out on this fascinating episode!

Key Points From This Episode:

An introduction to today’s question: what fixes pulpitis?
Diving back into dental school, the textbooks Dr. B kept
Find out about the anatomy of a tooth, from pulp to dentin
What the pulp consists of: nerves, blood vessels, lymph nodes, and odontoblasts
How a tooth is formed (dentinogenesis)
The role of the pulp in repairing certain types of tooth damage
What happens to the pulp as you age
The function of the pulp: sensation, nutrition, infection prevention, and possibly even balance!
How pulpitis occurs; how it causes tooth pain and why it can result in tooth death
The difference between reversible and irreversible pulpitis
Why you should never wait to get tooth pain treated
How a crown can prevent reversible pulpitis from becoming irreversible pulpitis
Why a crown is worth having even if the issue is irreversible pulpitis
How to manage acute pulpitis
Dr. B’s idea for a book: how tooth pain has shaped world history