Measurement of Blood Perfusion in the Dental Pulp with Laser Doppler Flowmetry

Abstract

The reproducibility of laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in measuring the perfusion of the dental pulp was investigated. A second aim was to establish if the LDF signal from the dental pulp can be influenced by physiological stimuli, e.g. postural changes. A third aim was to apply the technique to clinical measurements of pulp perfusion in patients undergoing orthodontic therapy. A custom splint to position the probe was fabricated for 10 subjects, and measurements of pulpal perfusion in the maxillary six anterior teeth were repeated on eight occasions with the subject seated. Further, measurements of the dental pulp perfusion in one tooth were repeated with the subject in a standing and supine position. Mean perfusion (arbitrary perfusion units) for individual teeth varied from 2.7 for a central incisor to 15.5 for a lateral incisor. Perfusion was greatest for lateral incisors and least for central incisors. Pulpal perfusion was significantly higher in a supine than in a standing or sitting position. Initial clinical experience with LDF encourages further investigation of its potential as a diagnostic tool for determining pulp vitality. Preliminary experimental results suggest that LDF will be a valuable source indicating pulpal response to orthodontic therapy with fixed appliances.

Changes in gingival blood flow during orthodontic treatment

“…There are also data on changes in the blood flow of oral tissues of orthodontic patients. The influence of external loads on the blood flow in the dental pulp of human teeth treated with fixed and removable orthodontic appliances was evaluated in short-time studies [26,27]. The effect of brief and continuous intrusive forces on human pulpal blood flow of upper left central incisors was also measured with LDF [28,29].…”

The influence of expansion on intraoperative bone blood flow in multisegmental maxillary osteotomies: an experimental study

“…Laser Doppler flowmetry is a reliable method for blood flow measurements in orthognathic surgery. In most of these studies, research was carried out on pulpal or gingival blood flow [4][5][6][7]9,10,11,13,20,27 .…”

Rapid Maksiller Ekspansiyonun Midpalatal Sutur Bölgesindeki Kan Akımına Etkisi

“…Özellikle plastik cerrahi alan›nda transplantlar›n ve fleplerin zarar gör-müfl olan dolafl›mlar›n› incelemekte kullan›-l›r (23,24). Difl hekimli¤inde ise yayg›n olarak de¤iflik etkilere maruz kalm›fl difllerdeki pulpal kan ak›m›ndaki de¤iflikliklerin ölçümünde kullan›lmaktad›r (25)(26)(27). Fakat mikrodamarlardaki ayr› ayr› her kan ak›m›, aktif kan ak›-m› olan damar say›s› ve damar çap› bu metotla hesaplanamaz (28).…”

“…In the field of dentistry, it is used for evaluating the pulpal perfusion changes of teeth generated by various negative effects (23)(24). In dentistry this method generally used for assessing the changes in pulpal blood flow of teeth exposed with various effects (25)(26)(27). H o w e v e r, the flow in individual microvessels, the number of vessels with active flow, and vessel diameter cannot be analyzed ( 2 8 ) .…”