The dental pulp is a soft tissue located inside the tooth, encapsulated by the hard tissues of the tooth such as enamel and dentin, including mainly blood vessels, nerves, lymph and connective tissue.
The shape of the pulp is roughly the same as the shape of the tooth, and it is connected to the periodontal and alveolar tissues through the apical foramen; its main functions are nutritive (i.e., providing nutrients to various tissues of the tooth), forming restorative dentin and other hard tissues, sensing external stimuli such as hot, cold, sour, and sweet, and fending off external bacterial infections.
The pulp is more sensitive to external stimuli and will not regenerate if it is infected by bacteria and becomes inflamed and necrotic; therefore, it is necessary to protect the nerves and repair the outer hard tissues of the teeth in a timely manner in order to effectively protect the pulp.