Sevda Söker; Engin Deveci; Ferhan Yaman; Serhat Atilgan; Fikret Ipek & Ibrahim Uysal

Sildenafil is a strong peripheral vasodilator and is used to treat cardiovascular and neurosurgery. The purpose of this study was to investigate the immunohistochemical and ultrastructural effects of sildenafil on dental pulp of rats. The study was performed with adult female Wistar-Albino rats. Control group (n= 7) were fed on standard laboratory diet until surgery. The study group (n= 7) were administered sildenafil orally with orogastric tube 10 mg·kg-1 once a day for 30 days. Each rat was anesthetized and incisor teeth were removed. This study examined the immunohistochemical and ultrastructural effects of sildenafil on the dental pulp in rats. The relaxation from the vessel, endothelial cell hyperplasia, moderate degeneration of collagen fibers were observed to cause degenerative changes in odontoblast with sildenafil. In the pulp tissue long-term use sildenafil is thought to cause degeneration and new vessel formation.

KEY WORDS: Sildenafil; Dental pulp; Morphological changes; Immunohistochemical study; Ultrastructural study.

SÖKER, S.; DEVECI, E.; YAMAN, F.; ATILGAN, S.; IPEK, F. & UYSAL, I. Effects of sildenafil on dental pulp: Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural evaluation. Int. J. Morphol., 34(2):570-574, 2016.