Influence of "time of day", pocket depth and scaling on gingival fluid flow

Gingival fluid was sampled from the orifices of the gingival crevices in five male subjects with clinically healthy gingiva. The sampling was performed at 0915 h, 1215 h and 1515 h of the same day. Variation in "time of day" did not seem to influence the rate of gingival fluid flow. A total of 144 pockets (2-11 mm) in 19 patients were sampled for gingival fluid at the orifices. The adjacent gingiva was evaluated accordingly to the Gingival Index (GI). Gingival fluid flow was much more influenced by the degree of gingival inflammation than by pocket depth. Scaling with curettes was performed in five patients. Gingival fluid was sampled at the orifices immediately before scaling and on days 1, 14 and 28 after scaling. The flow rate decreased to a minimum on day 14 after scaling for all pocket depths and remained at almost the same level until day 28. Pockets less than 5 mm deep were more frequently without measurable amounts of fluid than pockets deeper than 5 mm on days 14 and 28.