title: Blood-flow mapping of oral tissues by laser Doppler flowmetry.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop a rapid protocol for noninvasive quantification of blood flow at intraoral sites by laser Doppler flowmetry. For each flow measurement, the lowest flow observed over a 30-s period was recorded. Three flow readings at each site were averaged and recorded. Forehead and dorsal right-hand blood flows measured agreed with previous laser Doppler flow measurements. Flows measured with a hand-held probe were not different from flows measured with a stent-stabilized probe on the attached gingiva and an adhesive-stabilized probe on the dorsal hand. High flows were found in the tongue, buccal mucosa, and buccal vestibule. Medium flows were found in the attached gingivae. The lowest flows were found in the teeth. These results indicate that flow in intraoral tissues varies by site and can be noninvasively quantified with the laser Doppler flowmeter when a rigorous measurement protocol is used.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dentistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hoke
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Burkes
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Klitzman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002610:Cheek / Q000098:blood supply; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000098:blood supply*; D005260:Female; D005546:Forehead / Q000098:blood supply; D005881:Gingiva / Q000098:blood supply*; D006225:Hand / Q000098:blood supply; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009055:Mouth / Q000098:blood supply*; D009060:Mouth Floor / Q000098:blood supply; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000098:blood supply; D012016:Reference Values; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014059:Tongue / Q000098:blood supply