Dentinal response against carious invasion: localization of antibodies in odontoblastic body and process.

The pulpal origin of dentinal immunoglobulins was demonstrated by means of immunohistological methods. Immunoglobulins were located both in the cytoplasm of odontoblasts in pulp and at odontoblastic processes in dentin. Positive reactivity of the immunoglobulins to antigens was confirmed using peroxidase-immunized rabbits. IgG, IgA, IgM, C3, and C4 were observed on some invasive bacteria in human carious dentin.