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Gingival Blood Flow Velocity by Video Capillaroscopy as an Indicator of Gingival Inflammation
Yukie Watanabe1, Koji Inagaki1,2, Mari Masuda1
1Department of Dental Hygiene, Aichi Gakuin University Junior College, Nagoya, JPN.
Purpose:
We evaluated the usefulness of gingival capillary blood flow velocity (BFV) as an indicator of inflammation in the gingival sulcus.
Methods:
Twenty-two non-smoking female dental hygiene students from Aichi Gakuin University Junior College in Nagoya, Japan, with no medication use were assessed for periodontal, gingival blood flow, and nutrient intake. Gingival blood flow was recorded by video capillaroscopy (GOKO-Bscan-ZD). We compared the gingival capillary BFV between sites with and without bleeding on probing (BOP) in the gingival sulcus. For sites with BOP, we further compared BFV based on the presence or absence of visible inflammation.
Results:
Nutrient levels did not significantly correlate with BOP or gingival BFV. At the sites with BOP, the gingival capillary BFV (107.3 μm/sec) was significantly slower than that at the sites without BOP (189.3 μm/sec; P < 0.001), and the BFV at sites presence of visible inflammation (74.7 μm/sec) was significantly lower than that at sites absent of visible inflammation (142.1 μm/sec; P < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Gingival capillary BFV is a useful noninvasive indicator that facilitates early quantitative evaluation of localized inflammation within the gingival sulcus.
