---
title: "What Is Pulp vitality test? Dental Glossary | Town Center Dental"
description: "A pulp vitality test checks whether the nerve and blood supply inside a tooth is alive. Dentists use cold, heat or electric tests to find out."
url: https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/pulp-vitality-test
publisher: Town Center Dental
phone: +1-636-273-5866
quote: https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/request-appointment
---

Technology and Imaging

# Pulp vitality test

A pulp vitality test checks whether the nerve and blood supply inside a tooth is alive. Dentists use cold, heat or electric tests to find out.

The pulp is the soft center of a tooth that holds nerves and blood vessels. Dental pulp testing is a useful diagnostic aid. The common tests are thermal (cold or heat) and electric. They are called sensibility tests because they judge pulp health from how the tooth responds.

True vitality tests, such as laser Doppler flowmetry and pulse oximetry, look at blood flow in the pulp. They are promising but not yet the standard in daily practice. No pulp test is perfect. False results can lead to a wrong diagnosis, so dentists combine test results with your history, an exam, and X-rays like a [periapical X-ray](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/periapical-x-ray).

These tests often come up when a tooth hurts. See [root canal](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/services/root-canal) and [tooth pulp](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/tooth-pulp).

[Town Center Dental can helpRoot Canal Treatment](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/services/root-canal)

## Related terms

-   [Tooth pulp](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/tooth-pulp)
-   [Periapical X-ray](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/periapical-x-ray)
-   [Root canal therapy](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/root-canal-therapy)
-   [Exposed tooth nerve](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/exposed-tooth-nerve)

## Sources

1.  [NIH PMC: Dental Pulp Testing: A Review](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2837315/)
2.  [NIH PMC: Dental Pulp Testing: A Review](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2837315/)

## Ready when you are

[Request an appointment](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/request-appointment)[Call (636) 273-5866](tel:+1-636-273-5866)