Measurement of gingival crevicular fluid conductivity, in vivo

It has been shown that the ionic concentration of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) rises with increases in the inflammation of the surrounding tissue. Because measurement of this increase might be useful for clinical assessment of periodontal status and because the sampling of this fluid is difficult in the typical clinical environment, attempts were made to measure the conductivity of GCF in vivo using a fabricated conductivity probe. Preliminary results suggest that statistically significant correlations may exist between certain clinical indices and GCF conductivity. A correlation could be shown when comparing the Gingival Index and the measured conductivity of GCF, but the correlation may be too low to be of biologic relevance, possibly due to the use of pooled samples. The use of an ion-specific probe and the study of site-specific periodontal lesions are suggested to develop more definitive data than this pilot study provided.