A comparison between red and infrared light for recording pulpal blood flow from human anterior teeth with a laser Doppler flow meter.

OBJECTIVE

To compare red (635 nm) and infrared (780 nm) light for recording pulpal blood flow from human anterior teeth with a laser Doppler flow meter.

DESIGN

Recordings were made from 7 healthy teeth in 5 subjects (aged 22-55 years) using a laser Doppler flow meter (Periflux 4001) equipped with both red and infrared lasers. Average blood flow signals were obtained with both light sources alternately from each tooth under five conditions: intact tooth without opaque rubber dam, intact tooth with dam, after injecting local anaesthetic (3% Mepivacaine) (LA) over the apex of the tooth and cavity preparation to almost expose the pulp, after removal and replacement of the pulp, and with the root canal empty.

RESULTS

With infrared light, because of technical limitations, data were obtained for the first three conditions only. The dam significantly decreased the mean blood flow by 82%. Injecting LA and cavity preparation had no significant effect. With red light, dam produced a decrease of 56%, and the resulting signal was reduced by 33% after LA and cavity preparation. The remaining signal fell by 46% after pulp removal and replacement. This contribution of the pulp is similar to that recorded previously with infrared light. There was no significant further change when the pulp was finally removed.

CONCLUSIONS

The importance of using opaque rubber dam is confirmed. With dam, there is no advantage to using red rather than infrared light, and in each case the pulp contributes less than 50% to the blood flow signal.