Evaluation of Alkaline Phosphatase as Skeletal Maturity Indicator in Gingival Crevicular Fluid

The aim of this study was a comparison of the mean alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) at distinct phases of skeletal maturity with the use of a hand-wrist radiograph and to analyze if GCF ALP levels can be used as a non-invasive biomarker for evaluation of skeletal maturity in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment.

In this study, a standardized volume of 5 μL was collected from the subjects in the preadolescent, adolescent, and postadolescent phases from the mesial and distal embrasures of maxillary and mandibular central incisors after which a hand-wrist radiograph was obtained. Eppendorf tubes with buffer solution were used to transfer GCF to the laboratory for estimation of ALP level.

The data collected were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test to obtain the ALP levels. Gingival crevicular fluid ALP levels were significantly higher in the adolescent stage. The site-wise comparison in the three groups show that there is a statistically insignificant difference between maxilla and mandible or between males and females.

It was concluded that the mean ALP levels were significantly increased in the adolescent phase in contrast with the pre- and post-adolescent stages. Gingival crevicular fluid ALP can be considered a promising diagnostic tool as a non-invasive biomarker of an adolescence growth spurt.

Trehan M, Patil C. Evaluation of Alkaline Phosphatase as Skeletal Maturity Indicator in Gingival Crevicular Fluid. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(4):512-517.