Affiliation:
1. Department of Oral Pathology, University of Lund School of Dentistry, Carl Gustavs vag 34, 214 21 Malmö, Sweden
2. V.A. Medical Center, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33101
3. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33101
Abstract
A fluid phase was aspirated in vivo and in vitro from predentin or pulp of developing rat teeth by means of a micropuncture technique. Pooled aspirates (approx. 2 nL) were analyzed for P, Na, K, Ca, Mg, and S by electron probe microtechniques (Lechene and Warner, 1979). Compared with pulp fluid, currently and previously studied cartilage fluids, as well as serum, predentin fluid showed elevated K, depressed Na, Cl, and Ca, as well as increased P. Statistical analysis was possible for only a few groups of comparisons among the elemental profiles. Ultrastructural examination of the aspiration site and of the aspirates showed no evidence of contamination with cell organelles or other formed elements. The micropuncture technique used was a critically precise and laborious procedure; possible contamination with intracellular fluid could not be avoided. The consistently low Mg concentration found in the aspirates, however, supports our view that the samples were primarily extracellular.