In Vivo Evaluation of Customized Pulse Oximeter and Sensitivity Pulp Tests for Assessment Of Pulp Vitality

The purpose of this study was to test a customized pulse oximeter (CPO) for evaluation of pulp vitality in primary and permanent teeth against clinical diagnosis (vital and untreated non-vital) in order to expand its clinical use for pulp preservation.

CPO was evaluated on intact primary and permanent central or lateral incisor (CI, LI) teeth-vital (group 1, 20n each); untreated non-vital (group 2, 10n each) and; root filled non-vital (group 3, 10n each) of children 4-12 years according to inclusion/ exclusion criteria. For each patient CPO was first applied on finger followed by vitality tests in following sequence-electrical, pulse oximetry and thermal tests.

Mean oxygen saturation (%SpO2) in permanent and primary-vital teeth was 88.78% & 87.77% respectively; non-vital teeth was 74.67% & 75.00% respectively; and in all root filled teeth was 0%. Tooth and finger oxygen saturation values showed strong positive relationship in vital primary or permanent teeth and; no correlation in untreated non-vital primary or permanent teeth. The accuracy rate of thermal pulp test and pulse oximetry was 100% and for electrical pulp test it was 90% for permanent and 86.67% for primary teeth.

The CPO tested in this study proved to be a valuable adjunct for diagnosing pulp vitality by objective means.