Dental Pulp

Dental pulp is a soft tissue which is present inside the tooth and contains blood vessels, nerves, and lymphatics. It is present in both coronal and radicular portion of the tooth. The dental pulp is composed of cells which fall into four major categories: synthetic cells, progenitor cells, defense cells, and other cells. The pulp has four histological zones: odontoblastic zone, cell-free zone of Weil, cell-rich zone, and pulp core. The odontogenic zone consists of cell bodies of columnar odontoblastic cells and their cytoplasmic processes. The cell-free zone of Weil is also called “sub-odontoblastic layer” or “Hoehl's layer.” The cell-rich zone lies next to pulpal core and blends with it. The pulp core zone comprises prominent blood vessels and nerves and is present below the cell rich zone. Pulp fibrosis is an age-related condition in which the pulp gets gradually replaced by fibrous bundles of collagen with aging.