Effects of thermal vitality tests on human dental pulp.

Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of thermal pulp testing agents on the human dental pulp. Histological evaluation of the pulps of premolar teeth to which heated gutta-percha had been applied for up to 10 s revealed no evidence of injury. Teeth to which carbon dioxide (CO=) snow was applied for as long as 5 min were found to have structurally intact pulps. When the thermal testing agents were applied to teeth in vitro, temperature in the region of the pulpodentinal junction did not reach noxious levels. This study indicates that assessment of tooth vitality with either heated gutta-percha or CO= snow does not jeopardize the health of the pulp.