title: Environmental effects on laser Doppler pulpal blood-flow measurements in man.
abstract: The increasing number of experiments using laser Doppler flowmetry in man for pulpal blood-flow recordings leads to questioning of the experimental recording conditions. The present study focused on three points: the design of the laser probe holder, the isolation of the tooth, and the influence of the recording site. A rigid polyurethane splint used in addition to different isolation devices (cotton roll, metal shield, rubber dam) was compared with a silicone splint. The silicone resulted in significantly higher values (+341%) than the polyurethane splint. The combination of the polyurethane splint with isolation devices decreased, in all cases, the flux values. The polyurethane/rubber-dam combination was the most efficient in individualizing the pulpal blood flow (-69% decrease). Recordings on non-vital teeth confirmed the hypothesis that there was periodontal contamination of the recorded flow, as the signal was abolished when using the polyurethane/rubber-dam combination. Cervical recording sites gave significantly higher values than occlusal sites (+42%). It is concluded that, in man, the part played by the periodontium may have been underestimated in previous recordings of pulpal blood flow. The use of a rubber dam in combination with a rigid splint to enhance the validity of recordings is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Manducation, Paris, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Azérad
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Boucher
mesh_terms: D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000098:blood supply*; D003787:Dental Pulp Devitalization; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010519:Periodontium / Q000502:physiology; D011140:Polyurethanes; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016733:Rubber Dams; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012828:Silicones; D013165:Splints
chemical_list: D011140:Polyurethanes; D012828:Silicones